Afghanistan

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the current security situation in Afghanistan; and what is their assessment of Taliban intentions.

Baroness Warsi: The security situation in Afghanistan is still challenging, however violence levels remain lower than at the same stage last year, with the exceptions of anticipated spikes in violence on both election polling days. Despite this, the Taleban appear committed to their military campaign and the prospects for an Afghan-led peace process remain difficult in the short-term. We continue to call for the Taleban to enter a peaceful political process with the Afghan government.

Alcoholic Drinks

Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have had any discussions with their partners in the Responsibility Deal about the recent introduction of vodka sorbet in supermarkets.

Earl Howe: The Department does not discuss individual products with producers or retailers. Alcohol units are clearly labelled on individual products so all consumers can make informed choices. We do have a commitment from over 30 companies to take a billion units of alcohol out of the market by the end of 2015, primarily through improving consumer choice of lower alcohol products.

Antibiotics

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the risk to public health of the antibiotic-resistant bacteria recently discovered in riverbeds downstream from sewage works.

Earl Howe: Professor Wellington’s paper was co-authored by Professor Peter Hawkey, one of Public Health England’s (PHE) Lead Microbiologists. Investigating the presence of extended-spectrum ß-lactamases (ESBLs) and other antimicrobial resistance genes in
	the environment is part of PHE’s antimicrobial resistance research programme. Few studies address the presence of ESBLs in the environment and assessing the level of public health risk is not easy.
	PHE is assessing the occurrence of ESBL-producing E. coli from a variety of non-human sources, including sewage (but not river waters), to identify major reservoirs of the strains that cause human disease and to inform public health risk assessment. This Policy Research Programme-funded project will produce its final report in 2016.
	Professor Wellington also reports the first carbapenem- resistant E.coli from a United Kingdom river. Carbapenem resistance is considered a critical resistance threat by PHE, the Chief Medical Officer, the Department and the World Health Organization. Although carbapenem resistance rates in the UK are low, the actual number of carbapenem-resistant bacteria seen by PHE from hospitals is increasing year on year. A member of PHE recently reviewed the small but growing number of reports from around the world of carbapenem-resistant strains from non-human sources in collaboration with colleagues from the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency and the National Health Service.
	The key public health message arising from the latest paper by Professor Wellington’s team is that members of the public should always inform their general practice that they’ve been swimming in rivers/streams if they become ill (most likely with gastro symptoms).

Armed Forces: Officers

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government who are the serving officers at 4 star level; and what are their appointments and dates of appointment.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government who are the serving officers at 3 star level; and what are their appointments and dates of appointment.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government who are the highest-ranked women serving in each branch of HM Armed Forces; and what are their respective ranks.

Lord Astor of Hever: Information on 3 star and 4 star appointments and the highest ranking female officers in the Armed Forces are provided in the tables. While no women have yet reached 3 or 4 star the proportion of women in senior military posts is increasing and we are now seeing the best and brightest of our people recognised and promoted, irrespective of gender. We are working to address the under-representation of certain demographic groups, including women. The most tangible evidence of the progress that women have made in getting to the most senior ranks of the Armed Forces is the appointment in 2013 of Air Vice Marshals Elaine West and Sue Gray as the first female two-star officers in the RAF.
	
		
			 3 star officers 
			 Name Substantive Rank Position Date of appointment 
			 Alan Richards Vice Admiral Chief of Defence Intelligence 19/01/2012 
			 Ian Corder Vice Admiral UK Military Representative to NATO 30/05/2013 
			 Simon Lister Vice Admiral Chief of Materiel (Fleet) / Chief of Fleet Support 27/11/2013 
			 Philip Jones Vice Admiral Fleet Commander and Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff 30/11/2012 
			 David Steel Vice Admiral Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel and Training 10/10/2012 
			 Peter Hudson Vice Admiral Commander Maritime Command, NATO 14/02/2013 
			 Simon Mayall Lieutenant General Defence Senior Adviser for the Middle East 09/05/2011 
			 Nicholas Carter Lieutenant General Commander Land Forces 12/11/2013 
			 Gerald Berragan Lieutenant General Adjutant General 20/08/2012 
			 Christopher Deverell Lieutenant General Chief of Materiel (Land) and Quarter Master General 10/07/2012 
			 Philip Jones Lieutenant General Chief of Staff Supreme Allied Command Transformation 04/10/2013 
			 Timothy Evans Lieutenant General Commander Allied Rapid Reaction Corps. 30/08/2013 
			 Jonathan Page Lieutenant General Force Development and Training Command 17/02/2012 
			 Andrew Gregory Lieutenant General Chief of Defence Personnel 04/04/2013 
			 John Lorimer Lieutenant General Commander Urgent Operations, -Training and Mobilisation 28/08/2014 
			 James Everard Lieutenant General Commander Land Forces 07/08/2014 
			 Mark Poffley Lieutenant General Commander Force Development and Capability 28/02/2014 
			 Gordon Messenger Lieutenant General Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Military Strategy and Operations) 07/07/2014 
			 David Capewell Lieutenant General Chief of Joint Operations 01/12/2011 
			 Edward Davis Lieutenant General Deputy Commander, NATO Land Command, Izmir 01/07/2014 
			 Christopher Evans Air Marshal Surgeon General 22/12/2012 
		
	
	
		
			 Simon Bollom Air Marshal Chief of Materiel (Air) and Chief Engineer (RAF) 01/10/2012 
			 Graham Stacey Air Marshal Deputy Commander Joint Force Command - Brunssum 15/01/2013 
			 Christopher Harper Air Marshal Director General International Military Staff - NATO Brussels 24/07/2013 
			 Richard Garwood Air Marshal Director General Military Aviation Authority. 01/05/2013 
			 Stephen Hillier Air Marshal Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Military Capability) 11/01/2012 
			 Gregory Bagwell Air Marshal Deputy Commander Operations Air Command 16/04/2013 
			 Barry North Air Marshal Deputy Commander Capability Air Command 03/05/2013 
		
	
	
		
			 4 star officers 
			 Name Substantive Rank Position Date of appointment 
			 Nicholas Houghton General Chief of Defence Staff 18/07/2013 
			 Stuart Peach Air Chief Marshal Vice Chief of Defence Staff 10/05/2013 
			 George Zambellas Admiral First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval staff 09/04/2013 
			 Peter Wall General Chief of the General Staff 15/09/2010 
			 Andrew Pulford Air Chief Marshal Chief of Air Staff 26/07/2013 
			 Richard Barrons General Commander - Joint Forces Command 19/04/2013 
			 Adrian Bradshaw General Deputy Supreme Allied Commander - Europe 28/03/2014 
			 Richard Shirreff General Ex Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe - Pending Retirement N/A 
		
	
	
		
			 Highest ranking female officers 
			 Name Substantive Rank Position Date of appointment 
			 Juliet Bartlett Brigadier Director - Operational Law 15/10/2013 
			 Susan Ridge Brigadier Director -Legal Advisor 21/05/2012 
		
	
	
		
			 Elaine West Air Vice Marshal Director of Projects and Programme Delivery 01/08/2013 
			 Susan Gray Air Vice Marshal Director Combat Air and DE&S 29/01/2014 
		
	
	Note
	: The highest ranking female officers in the Royal Navy are Captains (6) and Acting Captains (2). However, we do not disclose names of officers and civil servants below the rank of Commodore or Senior Civil Servant.

Arrest Warrants

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the new conditions for granting European Arrest Warrants will (1) require prima facie evidence to be produced, and (2) safeguard the right of habeas corpus.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: It is not a requirement of the European Arrest Warrant Framework Decision that a State provide prima facie evidence when issuing a warrant. Prima facie evidence was similarly not required under the previous extradition arrangements for countries within the EU—the European Convention on Extradition of 1957. The Government has legislated to reform the operation of the EAW and increase the protections for British citizens and others who are wanted for extradition. These safeguards, contained in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, were commenced on 21 July 2014. These changes include the introduction of a proportionality bar. This requires a British judge to consider whether extradition would be disproportionate (and to discharge the person if it would be), taking into account the seriousness of the alleged conduct, the likely sentence the person would receive if convicted, and the possibility of the issuing State taking measures that would be less coercive than extradition.
	We have also addressed the concerns that relate to pre-trial detention. Where there are reasonable grounds for believing that decisions to charge and try the person have not been made, the issuing State must now prove that they have been (unless the only reason for this is the person’s absence from the issuing State), or the judge is required to discharge the person. This will help ensure people are not extradited only to spend length periods in pre-trial detention whilst the issuing State continues to investigate the offence. In addition, to help deal with concerns relating to length of pre-trial detention, it is now possible for an individual to be temporarily transferred to the issuing State or to speak with the authorities in that State by videoconference ahead of the extradition hearing in the UK, if the person consents. We have also made the Extradition Act 2003 clearer with regard to the existing requirement
	for dual criminality, in particular setting out that in cases where all or part of the conduct occurred in the UK, and the conduct is not criminalised here, the European Arrest Warrant must be refused for that conduct. The Government has also introduced (by way of the Crime and Courts Act 2013) a forum bar, to ensure that the possibility of a domestic prosecution has been properly explored as part of the extradition proceedings. The Government is satisfied that the UK’s transposition of the European Arrest Warrant Framework Decision complies fully with the concept of Habeas Corpus.

Asylum: Albania

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information and personal data are provided to the Albanian authorities on unaccompanied asylum-seeking children from Albania making asylum claims in the United Kingdom; and whether such children are informed or asked to consent to the transfer of such information and personal data before they are transferred.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in respect of how many Albanian asylum seekers claiming to be children, information was sought from the Albanian authorities leading to the identification of 23 individuals who were suspected of providing incorrect information about their age and the establishment of Operation Coldspell in December 2013.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Government has a legal duty to endeavour to trace the families of unaccompanied asylum seeking children and to take into account their best interests. In response to safeguarding concerns arising from reports that Albanian adults were falsely claiming to be children, and in order to facilitate the family tracing process, the Home Office piloted a process in late 2013 whereby information relevant to family tracing and confirming identity was obtained from the Albanian authorities in respect of 215 individuals. In all of these cases, the asylum claims had been refused and the Albanian authorities had not been the alleged actor of persecution. The piloted process became business as usual with effect from 29 January 2014. Checks are only conducted under this process if such a step will not jeopardise the safety of the child and their family. The Albanian authorities are provided with the names, dates of birth, identity numbers, places of birth, addresses and contact numbers for the child and their parents. Published Home Office guidance stipulates that the child should be informed shortly after point of claim for asylum that the Home Office will take appropriate steps to endeavour to trace their families.

Borders: Personal Records

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact universal exit checks at United Kingdom borders will have on (1) passenger and freight queuing times at ports and airports, and (2) United Kingdom trade and travel; and what additional resources they will provide to ensure that the introduction of such checks does not lead to (a) increased queuing, and (b) travel disruption for the travelling public.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Home Office is working with industry to identify a solution to implement exit checks at sea and airports and at international stations to minimise any impact on queuing times. We are also working with service operators to agree how passenger data can be used to reduce the level of additional checks made at the point of departure.

Burma

Baroness Uddin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of Preventing Sexual Violence (PSVI) summit earlier this year, what representation, if any, have they made to the government of Burma with regards to sexual violence and rape in that country to ensure perpetrators are held accountable and brought to justice.

Baroness Warsi: Baroness Warsi: We continue to raise our strong concerns about reports of rape and sexual violence in Burma with senior members of the Burmese Government and military. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), met Deputy Foreign Minister U Thant Kyaw during the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict on 13 June 2014. He publicly stated that Burma’s attendance at the summit was a signal of their support to the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) and readiness to take action against perpetrators, including members of the military. We welcomed the Burmese Government’s attendance at the summit and have made clear that concrete action is needed, including a credible action plan that involves the military. Our Ambassador in Burma has also raised this with U Thant Kyaw following the summit.
	It is our view that the investigation of human rights abuses in Burma is the responsibility of the Burmese Government. We have made clear to the Burmese Government that all allegations of human rights abuses must be dealt with through clear, independent and transparent investigative and prosecutorial processes which meet international standards.

Burma

Baroness Uddin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of Preventing Sexual Violence (PSVI) summit earlier this year, what action they are taking to support the establishment of an international investigation to end sexual violence and rape in Burma.

Baroness Warsi: We continue to raise our strong concerns about reports of rape and sexual violence in Burma with senior members of the Burmese Government and military. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), met Deputy Foreign Minister U Thant Kyaw during the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict on 13 June 2014. He publicly stated that Burma’s attendance at the summit was a signal of their support to the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) and readiness to take action against perpetrators, including members of the military. We welcomed the Burmese Government’s attendance at the summit and have made clear that concrete action is needed, including a credible action plan that involves the military. Our Ambassador has also raised this with U Thant Kyaw following the summit.
	It is our view that the investigation of human rights abuses in Burma is the responsibility of the Burmese Government. We have made clear to the Burmese government that all allegations of human rights abuses must be dealt with through clear, independent and transparent investigative and prosecutorial processes which meet international standards.

Burma

Baroness Uddin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of on-going allegations of rape against military officials in Burma, what conditions, if any, were agreed with the government of Burma on ending the use of rape as a weapon of war prior to any training provided by the British Armed Forces.

Baroness Warsi: To date, the UK has only provided one educational course to the Burmese military: “Managing Defence in a Wider Security Context”, a non-combat, academic course delivered to 30 military officers and government officials in January 2014. The course covered the importance of good governance in defence and professionalism in a nation’s Armed Forces, the observation of human rights obligations and preventing sexual violence. We did not make provision of this course conditional; such education and our exchanges with the Burmese military are themselves aimed at changing mindsets.
	We regularly address the issue of sexual violence by the Burmese army with the Burmese Government and with the military. We continue to make clear that where serious crimes have been committed, those who have perpetrated them should be held accountable for their actions. We lobby on preventing sexual violence in conflict areas, on encouraging the Burmese military to step back from politics, and on action to tackle human rights issues such as the use of child soldiers.
	The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), raised the issue of rape and sexual violence with the Burmese army's Commander-in-Chief and military northern commander during his visit to Burma in January. Mr Swire also urged the Burmese Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, who attended the Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict Summit in the UK in June 2014, to ensure a quick and credible action plan to implement the Declaration on Ending Sexual Violence.

Bus Services: Concessions

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the full-fare cost of journeys undertaken by older people using free bus passes was reimbursed to bus operators by each local authority in 2005–6, 2009–10, and in each financial year since, including the current year.

Baroness Kramer: The Department for Transport publishes concessionary travel statistics for each local authority in England showing, for older and disabled people: the total reimbursement of bus operators; the average reimbursement per journey; the average reimbursement per pass.
	These figures are obtained from bus operators through the annual Concessionary Travel Survey. They do not show reimbursement as a proportion of the full-fare cost of a journey and, as the figures include both older and disabled travellers, it is not possible to provide figures for older people only. In addition, if bus operators indicate that the information is commercially sensitive, it is not included in the final published table.
	The available statistics cover the years 2010/11 to 2012/13 and can be found on the GOV.UK website at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/265955/bus0832.xls
	We do not hold these statistics at local authority level for 2005/06 or 2009/10.

Castes: Discrimination

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 6 May (WA 331–2) and the comments by Helen Grant, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women and Equalities on 9 July (HC Deb, col. 140 WH), how they intend to establish baseline data that can be used to determine whether caste legislation is stopping unlawful discrimination given their acceptance of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission’s statement that research for that purpose would not be possible; and what are the terms of reference of the feasibility study announced by Mrs Grant.

Baroness Northover: The Government has accepted that the Equality and Human Rights Commission will not be undertaking further research in the area outlined in the question. However, in their respective statements neither Lord Ahmad nor Helen Grant accepted that such research cannot be done, which is why we are commissioning the feasibility study to which the Noble Lord refers.
	The key objectives for this study, which form its terms of reference, are to:
	Identify and critically assess the key issues which affect the feasibility of quantifying the extent of caste discrimination in Britain, and measuring changes over time;Identify specific methodological approaches for realistically and feasibly quantifying the scale of caste discrimination in Britain and measuring changes over time;Appraise the costs and benefits associated with each methodological option.

Central African Republic

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of reports of worsening humanitarian access to the Central African Republic.

Baroness Northover: Conditions in CAR are extremely challenging for both humanitarian workers and local communities. The Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reported over 770 security incidents throughout CAR since January 2014. 67 of these incidents have directly targeted humanitarian personnel. DFID is working with agencies which have appropriate systems and a level of community acceptance to enable them to access some of the most vulnerable populations in CAR. In 2014 DFID has funded the ICRC, UN agencies and international NGOs to support communities who have suffered from the violence.

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Lord Grocott: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Earl Howe on 9 July (HL Deb, col. 216), how many managerial and clerical staff were appointed to each of the Clinical Commissioning Groups established by the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

Earl Howe: Information concerning the number of clerical and administrative staff, managers, and senior managers in Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) in England, as at 30 September 2013, has been placed in the Library.

Common Fisheries Policy

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they are doing to reform the European Union fisheries policy.

Lord De Mauley: The Government recently secured wide-ranging and progressive reforms to the EU Common Fishery Policy. Specific changes include the introduction of regionalised fisheries management, a phased landing obligation banning the discarding of fish and a legal commitment to setting fishing rates at sustainable levels. These wide ranging reforms will help deliver a prosperous fishing industry, healthy fish stocks and protect the marine environment.
	Work to implement these measures is underway. A formal consultation on how to implement the landing obligation in pelagic fisheries in England recently closed. Regionally agreed Discard Plans for the North Sea and North West waters have been submitted to the Commission for adoption. Consultations with the fishing industry and other groups have started to develop a policy position for the introduction of the landing obligation in demersal fisheries.

Diesel Fuel

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have received from environmental non-governmental organisations, over the past 20 years, on the subject of efforts to encourage motorists to switch to diesel fuel.

Baroness Kramer: The Government regularly receives correspondence from environmental non-governmental organisations on a range of issues which are relevant to our fuel policies. The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost. If my Noble Friend would like to write to me I am happy to investigate any specific concerns in this area he should wish to raise.

Entry Clearances

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) business visitor visas, (2) child visitor visas,
	(3) family visitor visas, (4) general visitor visas, and (5) student visitor visas, were issued in 2013.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: In 2013, 1,988,068 visit visas were issued to applicants in the following categories:
	
		
			 Category of visitor Total applications 
			 Business Visitor 353,445 
			 Child Visitor visas (includes accompanied and unaccompanied Children) 322,030 
			 Family Visitors 207,434 
			 General Visitor (includes Chinese nationals issued under the Approved Destination Agreement) 1,027,559 
			 Student Visitor (includes general students and English language Students) 77,601

EU: Parliamentary Scrutiny

Lord Boswell of Aynho: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for each government department, from July to December 2013, (1) on how many occasions the scrutiny reserve resolution in the House of Lords was overridden, (2) on how many occasions the scrutiny reserve resolution in the House of Commons was overridden, and (3) in respect of how many documents an override occurred in (a) both Houses or (b) either House.

Baroness Warsi: The Government seeks to avoid breaching the Scrutiny Reserve Resolutions, continuing to account for overrides in writing to the Committees. The last EU Committee report recognises that engagement between the Committee’s Secretariat and Departments helped the number of overrides fall, the largest category of override being on sensitive, fast-moving Common Foreign and Security Policy matters (16 of the 20 overrides across the two Houses) which cannot be publicised beforehand, making overrides difficult to avoid. During this period, 568 Explanatory Memoranda were submitted, the 20 overrides representing the lowest number since 2010.
	The figures requested are in the Table.
	
		
			 Overrides July-December 2013 
			 Department (1) House of Lords Override (2) House of Commons override (a) No. of overrides in both Houses (b) Total no. of overrides 
			 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 2 1 1 2 
		
	
	
		
			 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 1 1 1 1 
			 Foreign and Commonwealth Office 15 17 15 17 
			 TOTALS (with reference to questions) 18 (Q 1) 19 (Q 2) 17 (Q a) 20 (Q b)

Female Genital Mutilation

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their long-term targets concerning the prevention and punishment of female genital mutilation (FGM), in the light of recent reforms and the creation of an FGM unit.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Our longer term focus has not changed. Prevention remains at the heart of our work to tackle and eradicate Female Genital Mutilation in the UK. The new FGM unit is being set up to drive a step change in nationwide outreach on FGM with criminal justice partners, children’s services, healthcare professionals and affected communities. The details of the new FGM unit are being developed across government and in consultation with interested parties.

Forests

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to bring forward legislation to establish a new public body to hold the Public Forest Estate to account.

Lord De Mauley: The Government’s policy on the future of the Public Forest Estate is set out in its Forestry and Woodlands Policy Statement of January 2013. The Government is committed to maintaining the Public Forest Estate in public ownership and to establishing a new operationally independent public body to manage the estate for the long-term benefit of people, nature and the economy.
	There were many proposals competing for the limited space within the Fourth Session programme and the proposed forestry measures could not be accommodated. However, the Government stands by its commitment to establish the new public body as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Fuels: Tax Evasion

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Newby on 15 July (HL Deb, col. 501), what specific legislative change was undertaken specifically to deal with the absence of custodial sentences for illegal production or smuggling of diesel in Northern Ireland; and on what date those legislative changes became effective.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Newby on 15 July (HL Deb, col. 501), for each of the 22 convictions referred to, what was the (1) date of conviction, (2) the charge on which the perpetrator was found guilty, (3) the other charges, if any, dealt with in the same trial, on which the convicted person was found not guilty, (4) the sentence passed, and (5) the court in which the hearing took place.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Newby on 15 July (HL Deb, col. 501), what is their estimate of how much of the diesel bought in the Republic of Ireland and brought into Northern Ireland, is illegally produced or smuggled into the province.

Lord Deighton: Legislative change enacted in, The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Review of Sentencing) Order (Northern Ireland) 2013 (SR 249/2013) allows the appeal of unduly lenient sentences for fuel fraud to the Court of Appeal. It came into force on 9 December 2013.
	All 22 convictions related to offences prosecuted under Section 170(2)(a) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 for fraudulent evasion of duty. Further details area as follows:
	15 of the cases were prosecuted for two offences under this Act12 of these convictions resulted in suspended sentences totalling 104 months, with each being suspended for a period of time between 12 and 36 monthsOne case resulted in the defendant being bound overIn nine cases fines of up to £4,000 were imposed - totalling £11,700; and in two of these the defendant was given a period of up to 26 weeks to pay the fine or an additional custodial sentence would be imposed
	One conviction was converted into a time to pay agreement due to the ill health of the defendantOne Confiscation Order was made for £98,000One Compensation Order was made for £500
	It would not be prudent to provide the further detailed information requested as they could lead to identification of the individuals concerned and jeopardise the safety of the defendants and their immediate families.
	No assessment has been made of how much of the diesel bought in the Republic of Ireland and brought into Northern Ireland is illegally produced or smuggled. However, tax gap figures estimate the market share for all illicit diesel in Northern Ireland at 12-13% in 2011-12 and negligible for petrol.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/measuring-tax-gaps-tables
	HMRC fights fraud on a wide range of fronts, from special units performing thousands of roadside checks to raiding laundering plants. The UK has recently announced, jointly with Ireland, an improved new marker for rebated fuel, which will make it much harder to launder marked fuel and sell it at a profit.

Gastrointestinal Cancer

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to ensure that primary carers and general practitioners receive sufficient training about paediatric, adolescent, wild-type and syndromic gastrointestinal stromal tumours in order to ensure better patient management and specialist treatment.

Earl Howe: The content and standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is the competent authority for medical training in the United Kingdom. Its role is that of custodian of quality standards in medical education and practice. The GMC is an independent professional body. It has the general function of promoting high standards of medical education and co-ordinating all stages of medical education to ensure that students and newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice.
	Medical Royal Colleges design the curricula for postgraduate medical education and in doing so they must ensure that teaching meets the standards of the GMC in order to be able to retain GMC recognition of their course.

Government Departments: Recruitment

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether their recruitment of 10 positions to advise on the management and performance of the railways represents additional Department for Transport staff or is offset by staff reductions elsewhere.

Baroness Kramer: This recruitment is to fill existing vacancies within the Department for Transport’s Rail Executive. This recruitment will not be offset by staff reductions elsewhere.

Health Visitors

Lord Harrison: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of the 4,200 extra health visitors they are seeking to recruit by 2015 they expect (1) to work in the National Health Service, and (2) to complete training on identifying the signs of postnatal depression.

Earl Howe: The additional 4,200 health visitors will all be providing front line services to families. Health visitor services are currently commissioned by NHS England as part of Section 7A of the NHS Act 2006*. NHS England’s Local Area Teams determine the most suitable local service provider. Currently, most provision is through a variety of National Health Service organisations, with a small proportion delivered by other organisations, including social enterprises. The trajectory for delivering growth of the health visitor workforce is not related to the type of provider. All services are based on a national model of health visiting and the NHS England service specification.
	NHS England Area Teams and local authorities are working together in co-commissioning these services, prior to the lead commissioning role moving to local authorities in October 2015.
	All health visitors, including the additional 4,200 being delivered by 2015, receive education and training on maternal mental health, so they can detect the early signs of postnatal depression and ensure all women get support during and after birth.
	The NHS England 2014-15 service specification emphasises throughout, the role of the health visitor in promoting maternal mental health within clearly defined pathways. It makes clear that health visitors are expected to be trained and developed to be competent in delivering the evidence-based assessments and interventions set out in the Healthy Child Programme. In addition, NHS England is resourcing Area Teams to support delivery of the new model of health visiting which explicitly includes maternal mental health as a high impact area.
	To supplement core training, health visitors are able to enhance their skills and knowledge in the context of their specific roles. The Department has earlier this year, commissioned the training of 375 perinatal mental health champions across England. The champions are cascading their training in local areas so as to facilitate the spread of knowledge and practice among colleagues. In addition to the champions’ training, all health visitors are able to access perinatal mental health e-learning modules.
	Note
	: *As amended by the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

Hilda Murrell

Lord Rooker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 9 April (WA 302–3), on what specific date in July 2014 they will make an application to the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Council to allow the file held on Hilda Murrell to be transferred to the National Archives; and at what location the file is held in the meantime.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: I refer the noble Lord to the reply I gave on 9 April 2014, Official Report, columns WA 302-3. Following the cancellation of the July Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Council, the one file referred to will be considered in September. Since my previous answer, a further six relevant files have been identified. Of these further files, five were submitted to TNA on 9 May 2014 for agreement of selection for permanent preservation in The National Archives. This series will be the subject of the Lord Chancellor's Committee on 13 November. The remaining file is from 1993 and is not due for review until 2017.

Israel

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have had discussions with the directors of G4S about that company’s adherence to the terms of the Fourth Geneva Convention as it applies to the detention of Palestinian prisoners inside Israel; and what was the outcome of any such discussions.

Baroness Warsi: The Government has made clear our concerns about Israel’s treatment of Palestinian detainees in meetings with G4S. The UK also considers that Israel’s detention of Palestinian prisoners within Israel is contrary to Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and has clearly stated this position to Israeli officials. International law does not impose direct obligations on corporations. However, the Government encourages British companies to show respect for human rights in their operations in the UK and internationally. On 21 April 2013, G4S publicly confirmed that they would not renew a number of security contracts in the West Bank “to ensure that G4S Israel business practices remain in line with our own business ethics policy”. These include the servicing of security equipment at Ofer Military Prison, at West Bank checkpoints and at a police station in the contentious E-1 area of Jerusalem.

Jubilee Line

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Kramer on 28 July (WA 257–8), whether they have considered conducting a reassessment, 10 years after the last, of the benefit-cost ratio of the Jubilee Line extension; and whether they intend to carry out any similar assessments of other infrastructure projects.

Baroness Kramer: The Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) are responsible for the Jubilee line. TfL have no current plans to undertake a further evaluation of the benefit-cost ratio of the extension.
	The Department for Transport takes a structured approach to understanding the benefits of projects once delivery of those projects has started. Actively managing the realisation of benefits will improve value for money and maximise the benefits for passengers.

Large Goods Vehicles: Safety

Baroness Gardner of Parkes: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to remove the exemption for skip lorries and concrete mixing lorries from the requirement to be fitted with a safety bar, and, if so when; and what assessment they have made of the efforts made by Cemex in that area.

Baroness Kramer: The Department for Transport will be consulting in the autumn to change the rules for side guards to be fitted to tippers, refuse vehicles and car transporters that were registered from 1 January 2010. Side guards will be required to be fitted to the majority of new vehicles from 29 October 2014.
	There has been no specific assessment of the measures implemented by Cemex but the Government welcomes the initiatives taken by a number of companies to voluntarily fit additional safety equipment to protect pedestrian and vulnerable road users.

Large Goods Vehicles: Speed Limits

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Kramer on 24 July (WS 137), what tougher procedures and sanctions they propose for lorry drivers caught exceeding the new speed limits.

Baroness Kramer: In conjunction with the speed limit change, we are considering whether to adopt a new approach to the offence of exceeding a vehicle
	specific speed limit. This would be to ensure that drivers receive a strong warning letter from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for a first offence, and are called to a driver conduct hearing for a subsequent offence, where the Traffic Commissioner will consider whether action should be taken against their licence. We could also consider in future taking this approach for all speeding offences in a large vehicle, though it would require changes to the way offences are recorded.
	In addition police forces can refer vocational licence holders directly to driver conduct hearings at a first offence.
	The Senior Traffic Commissioner publishes guidance and directions about driver conduct hearings. We anticipate consultation about revised guidance will begin later this year.

Large Goods Vehicles: Speed Limits

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Kramer on 24 July (WS 137), how the change to HGV speed limits will reinforce the credibility and importance of other safety-critical laws.

Baroness Kramer: We consider the change to the 40 mph HGV speed limit will remove an out-dated and poorly observed speed limit. We consider modernising that limit in itself reinforces the importance of other speed limits, particularly lower local speed limits. Other key safety-related laws, such as the ban on using had-held mobile phones whilst driving, have similar penalties to those for speeding and their importance is likewise enhanced by the modernisation of the HGV speed limit itself. For mobile phone use whilst driving large vehicles the Government is already introducing and encouraging the greater use of vocational driver conduct hearings, where action can be taken against drivers’ licence entitlements.
	In addition having the current limit gives rise to an untenable position where motorists’ expectations of relatively quick journeys on some rural roads are only being met because HGV drivers are routinely breaking their speed limit.
	Having a law in place which we know to be widely disregarded can only increase the likelihood that drivers will consider other laws to be optional, and so the Government decided a change in the HGV speed limit to a more modern and credible 50 mph is necessary

Manchester-Burnley Railway Line

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the introduction of railway services between Manchester and East Lancashire via the Todmorden curve is still expected to take place by December 2014; and, if not, what are the reasons for the delay.

Baroness Kramer: Although the work to reinstate the track is now finished, Network Rail has yet to complete the signalling infrastructure works that will
	allow trains to run through the full length of the curve in both directions. Once Network Rail has finished all the necessary infrastructure works, Northern will be able to begin driver route training.
	Northern Rail, in consultation with Lancashire County Council, the project sponsor, have informed the Department for Transport that they are working towards implementing train services from the start of the May 2015 timetable change, subject to signing a formal funding agreement contract with Lancashire County Council. Northern will endeavour to introduce services as soon as is practicable, subject to agreement being reached over the local funding.

Manchester-Burnley Railway Line

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government with whom responsibility lies for the acquisition of rolling stock to commence operating a direct train service from Manchester to Burnley now that the new infrastructure is in place.

Baroness Kramer: Although the work to reinstate the track is now finished, Network Rail has yet to complete the signalling infrastructure works that will allow trains to run through the full length of the curve in both directions. Once Network Rail has finished all the necessary infrastructure works, Northern will be able to begin driver route training.
	The acquisition of rolling stock is a matter for the sponsor (Lancashire County Council) and the operator.

Middle East

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will use the calls of the families of those killed in Israel and Palestine for non-violence as a means to promote verified ceasefires and the adherence by all parties to the norms of international law.

Baroness Warsi: I refer the noble Lord to the Statement on Gaza of 21 July 2014 by the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), repeated in the House of Lords by the Leader of the House and Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell), Official Report, Column 979-982. We strongly endorse the call by the UN Security Council for an immediate ceasefire and for respect for international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians. We are open to the idea of appropriate mechanisms to verify and ensure a durable ceasefire.

Middle East

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of Hamas’ offer of a 10-year truce.

Baroness Warsi: The Government has not made any assessment of this offer. The UK's policy on Hamas is clear: Hamas must renounce violence, recognise
	Israel and accept previously signed agreements. We continue to press for an urgent agreement on a ceasefire and for all sides to minimise civilian casualties. We would like to see a durable end to the current cycle of violence and a long term strategy to address the underlying causes of the conflict and transform the situation in Gaza.

Middle East

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent representations they have made to the government of Israel about their ground incursion into Gaza.

Baroness Warsi: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), discussed the current crisis in Gaza with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman during his visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories between 23-24 July. He made clear that whilst Israel had a right to self-defence, any response must be proportionate and maximum efforts made to avoid civilian casualties. He urged progress towards a ceasefire.

Middle East

Baroness Uddin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of how civilians in Gaza can best be protected.

Baroness Warsi: The UK is deeply concerned by the high levels of civilian casualties. We have called on all those involved in the current crisis to avoid any action which risks civilian casualties in line with humanitarian law. The Government assesses that civilians can best be protected through the agreement of an immediate ceasefire that ends the current bloodshed, opens up humanitarian access, and allows displaced people to return to their homes. The British Government is working closely with international partners in order to secure this goal.

Muslim Brotherhood

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what investigations have been or are being carried out into (1) The Cordoba Foundation, (2) The Emirates Centre for Human Rights, and (3) The Middle East Eye; and whether they consider those organisations to have any links to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Prime Minister commissioned a review into the Muslim Brotherhood. We must not prejudge the review’s findings, the purpose of which is to inform Government policy towards the Muslim Brotherhood. Its scope includes linked and affiliated organisations and individuals and the review will take account of evidence relating to
	allegations of such links. The review is internal but we expect to say something publicly about its conclusions after the summer recess.

Orders and Regulations

Lord Goodlad: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many statutory instruments from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have been laid this calendar year; of those, what percentage corrected errors in a previous instrument (including drafts of affirmative instruments that had to be superseded by correcting drafts); and what steps that Department is taking to reduce the need for correcting instruments.

Lord De Mauley: Defra laid 33 Statutory Instruments this calendar year. Two of these, 6% of the total, corrected errors in other Statutory Instruments. They are the Marine Licensing (Application Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 and the Veterinary Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2014.
	The Department and its legal team have standing procedures for checking Statutory Instruments. If a correction to a Defra Statutory Instrument is required, the reasons for the error are investigated and appropriate action taken.
	Defra will be working with The Treasury Solicitor and First Parliamentary Counsel in the coming months to improve the quality of Statutory Instrument drafting

Pakistan

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total amount of Department for International Development money spent on education programmes in Pakistan; and how many school teachers have been trained using the Department for International Development money.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much they have spent on education awareness programmes in Pakistan over the last three years.

Baroness Northover: From 2011-12 to 2013-14 DFID has spent a total of £183 million on education in Pakistan, with £92 million spent during the last financial year. This support has helped get additional children into school, increase teacher attendance, improve school facilities and train teachers amongst other activities. During the last two years (2012-13 & 2013-14), DFID programmes have helped the Pakistani Government to train 150,000 teachers.

Pakistan

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are continuing to fund the Mir Khalil ur Rahman Foundation (MKRF) to provide education awareness programmes in Pakistan; and what was the total amount allocated to MKRF in the last 3 years.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to publish the proposal submitted by the Mir Khalil ur Rahman Foundation for the education awareness programme in Pakistan, any progress reports, or information on what they have accomplished so far through their media campaign in Pakistan.

Baroness Northover: Funding to Mir Khalil Ur Rahman Foundation (MKRF) ended in January 2014. Over the period 2011 to 2014, £5.06 million was spent by MKRF as part of our larger Transforming Education in Pakistan (TEP) programme.
	The department has published progress reports on our development tracker in line with our commitment to transparency. http://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/projects/GB-1-202491/.

Palestinians

Baroness Deech: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made representations to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency concerning the storage of rockets in its facilities in Gaza, and its arrangements for their disposal.

Baroness Warsi: The Government has not made any representations to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) over this issue. UNRWA issued a statement on 17 July strongly condemning the placement of rockets in its school. UNRWA responded rapidly to the discovery of the rockets, removing the weapons and launching an investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident.

Palestinians

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the capability of hospitals in Gaza to cope with the numbers of injured.

Baroness Warsi: Longstanding movement and access restrictions have caused a deterioration in the quality of medical care available in Gaza. And some hospitals in Gaza have also been damaged in the current military operation. The UN has expressed concern that the Palestinian Ministry of Health is struggling to cope with the increased burden of medical emergencies on the health system, given the high levels of shortages of medicines, medical disposables and hospital fuel supplies, and rising health care debt. Some patients have been referred to hospitals outside Gaza for specialised and
	life-saving medical treatments. The ongoing violence in Gaza has impeded others from reaching crossing points.

Palestinians

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the alleged delivery of medical equipment and drugs to hospitals in Gaza by the Israel Defence Forces; and whether the European Union will provide emergency medical staff to assist with the casualties in Gaza.

Baroness Warsi: We are aware that the Israeli authorities are facilitating medical access and evacuations through the Erez crossing. The EU is supporting specialised and life-saving medical treatments and emergency healthcare in Gaza. The UK funds the UN Access Coordination Unit to work with Israel, the Palestinian Authorities, the World Health Organisation and aid agencies to facilitate the transfer of medical equipment and supplies in to Gaza. We are also bringing forward £3 million in funding to the International Committee of the Red Cross, much of which will provide emergency health care.

Parliamentary Information and Communications Technology Service

Lord McAvoy: To ask the Chairman of Committees how many staff are employed by PICT in each senior pay band; and what has been the average yearly increase in salary for each band in each of the last five years.

Lord Sewel: PICT employs 1 member of staff at senior pay band 2 and 4 at senior pay band 1.
	Pay for senior staff in the House of Commons, under whose terms and conditions PICT staff are paid, has increased over the last 5 years as follows:
	
		
			 Financial year Percentage increase 
			 13/14 yet to be agreed 
			 12/13 0% 
			 11/12 0% 
			 10/11 0% 
			 09/10 2.3% 
			 08/09 2.5%

Police: Vehicles

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many 4x4s or SUVs or off-road vehicles each police force possesses, listed by make and model.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Data on the number of vehicles possessed by police forces is not collected by the Home Office.

Self-harm

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Earl Howe on 14 July (WA 105–7), what are the figures for each NHS Trust in England for (1) the number of (a) girls, and (b) boys, aged under 18 years who received hospital treatment for self-harm each year since 2010, and (2) the number of (a) men, and (b) women, aged over 18 years who received hospital treatment for self-harm each year since 2010.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Earl Howe on 14 July (WA 105–7), what is the age breakdown of the figures in respect of the number of (1) girls, and (2) boys, aged under 18 years who received hospital treatment for self-harm each year since 2010.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Earl Howe on 14 July (WA 105–7), what is the ethnic breakdown of the figures in respect of the number of (1) girls and (2) boys aged under 18 years who received hospital treatment for self-harm each year since 2010.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) girls, and (2) boys aged under 18 years who received hospital treatment for self-harm each year since 2010 (a) were offered a comprehensive assessment of their physical, psychological and social needs in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, and (b) accepted that offer, broken down by each NHS Trust in England.

Earl Howe: Data for the number of girls, and boys, aged under 18 years who received hospital treatment for self-harm each year since 2010, and the number of men, and women, aged over 18 years who received hospital treatment for self-harm each year since 2010, broken down by National Health Service trust in England has been placed in the Library.
	Data on the age breakdown of the figures in respect of the number of girls, and boys, aged under 18 years who received hospital treatment for self-harm each year since 2010 has been placed in the Library.
	Data on the ethnic breakdown of the figures in respect of the number of girls and boys aged under 18 years who received hospital treatment for self-harm each year since 2010 has been placed in the Library.
	For each question we have provided a count of finished admission episodes with a cause code of self harm and a count of accident and emergency attendances (excluding planned attendances) with a patient group of deliberate self-harm for 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13.
	Please note:
	the same person may have been admitted on more than one occasion;a patient may have attended Accident and Emergency (A&E) and then been admitted to hospital as a
	single event, in this case the event would be included in both the A&E and hospital admission figures; andit is not mandatory for data providers to submit data for “patient group”.
	The notes should be referred to when interpreting the data.
	Data is not available on the number of girls, and boys aged under 18 years who received hospital treatment for self-harm each year since 2010 who were offered a comprehensive assessment of their physical, psychological and social needs in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, and accepted that offer, broken down by each NHS trust in England.

Sovereignty: Scotland

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implications for Wales of the outcome of the referendum on Scottish independence.

Baroness Randerson: This Government has demonstrated a clear commitment to devolution in Wales and that will continue regardless of the outcome of the referendum on Scottish independence. The Wales Bill delivers on most of the Silk Commission’s part one recommendations and the Government is currently considering the Commission’s part two recommendations that do not require primary legislation.
	Any further changes to the devolution settlement in Wales, including consideration of the recommendations in the Silk Commission’s second report that do require primary legislation are matters for the next Parliament and should therefore inform party manifestoes for next year’s General Election.

Speed Limits

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Statement by Baroness Kramer on 24 July (WS 137), whether they intend to apply the reasoning that the “current speed limit just does not work—it is broken by about three quarters of HGV drivers at any particular time” in considering alterations to speed limits for other types of vehicle.

Baroness Kramer: The Government is not reviewing national speed limits for the other main vehicle classes (ie light goods vehicles, cars towing trailers and caravans and buses and coaches). The table below summarises the 2013 data the Department for Transport holds about speeds in free flow conditions (ie when they are not constrained by congestion) for the main vehicle types. However, the Department is considering the responses to a consultation about changing the speed restriction on agricultural tractors and trailers from 20 mph to 25 mph.
	There are a variety of reasons why it is appropriate to change the national HGV speed limits on single and dual carriageways. One is that the low level of compliance with them is symptomatic of their being set at the wrong level compared to other limits. So on single
	carriageways the non-compliance level for cars is 7% and buses and coaches 26%, compared to 73% for articulated lorries.
	For the main categories of vehicles the percentage breaking the main speed limits in free flow conditions in 2013 are:
	
		
			  Cars  Motorcycles  Cars Towing  Light Goods  Buses/ Coaches  Articulated HGV*  
			  Limit % > limit Limit % > limit Limit % > limit Limit % > limit Limit % > limit Limit % > limit 
			 30 mph roads 30 46 30 47 30 42 30 50 30 25 30 44 
			 40 mph roads 40 21 40 29 40 13 40 24 40 11 40 18 
			 Single carriageways 60 7 60 21 50 19 60 9 50 26 40 73 
			 Dual carriageways 70 39 70 45 60 28 70 41 60 45 50 82 
			 Motorways 70 47 70 46 60 31 70 48 70** 17 60 0 
		
	
	*
	The speed limit for HGV rigids varies by size for some road types.
	**
	60 mph for >12m coaches, figures based on 70 mph limit.

Transport: Capital Investment

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their typical requirements for a business case seeking investment in a transport-related investment scheme; whether those requirements are the same for each mode of transport; and by what means those requirements are measured.

Baroness Kramer: Transport investments are supported by a Transport Business Case, which, in line with HM Treasury guidance, considers the case for investment from five perspectives, showing whether schemes:
	are supported by a robust case for change that fits with wider public policy objectives – the ‘strategic case’;demonstrate value for money – the ‘economic case’;are commercially viable – the ‘commercial case’;are financially affordable – the ‘financial case’; andare achievable – the ‘management case’.
	Further information and guidance on the Transport Business Case is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transport-business-case. This sets out what should be covered in each element of the business case; the questions likely to be asked by the relevant investment committee; how the level of detail should be developed as a scheme progresses; and provides tools and sources of further guidance to aid in the development of business cases. These requirements are the same, regardless of the mode of transport being considered for investment. The business case is considered using the questions set out in the above document. In addition, the economic case includes an assessment of the value for money category and guidance on the value for money assessment process is also available at the link above.

Viral Haemorrhagic Disease

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to banning all flights from countries in Africa in which cases of the Ebola virus have occurred.

Baroness Kramer: All avenues to restrict the virus entering the UK are under constant review. UK Airlines are constantly reviewing the Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s travel advice when planning their services and ensuring that measures they take are consistent with Public Health England guidance.
	Currently, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the World Health Organisation are not recommending travel restrictions to countries in Africa with cases of Ebola. UK airlines are not planning to stop services to these countries. However, airlines and the UK Government are constantly reviewing the situation.
	A ban on direct flights would not allow a country to avoid the spread of a virus altogether, as potentially infected passengers could travel via hubs in third countries.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Lord Mawhinney: To ask the Leader of the House, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 17 July (WA 144–5), whether she will discourage ministers and spokespersons from answering Written Questions by reference to websites.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston: I refer the noble Lord to the reply I gave to Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 29 July (WA 304).

Angola

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Angola regarding food insecurity in that country; and whether they have encouraged that government to undertake an assessment of the situation.

Baroness Northover: Poor seasonal rainfall early in 2014 in parts of Western Angola has affected the harvest and food availability there. However, throughout most of the country production is considered to be good and expected to be higher than normal. This has helped to maintain reasonable food prices for urban populations.
	The Government has not had recent bilateral discussions with the Government of Angola regarding the food situation. The Government of Angola is leading the food assistance programme and is best placed to prepare for and lead such a response with the support of UN partners. The Government of Angola has set up an Inter-ministerial Commission to tackle the drought. The Government of Angola is also embarking on infrastructure projects, such as water supply projects, to mitigate drought impact in the future.

Armed Conflict: Females

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the commitment to a High-Level Review in United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2122 and to women, peace and security financing at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, whether the United Kingdom will contribute funding to support the UN High-Level Review of the implementation of UNSCRs 1325 and 2122; and, if so, how much they will contribute.

Baroness Warsi: We look forward to the UN High-Level Review in 2015 which should help identify lessons learned and set priorities for further action on the Women, Peace and Security agenda. The UK published its third National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security on 16 June, House of Commons Hansard, Official Report, Column 72-47WS. No decisions have yet been taken on whether the UK will contribute funding to support the UN Review.

Army: Parachuting

Earl Attlee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the British Army last inserted forces for combat operations by means of parachute drop at greater than platoon strength other than under the control of the Director of Special Forces.

Lord Astor of Hever: The last time the British Army inserted troops not under the control of the Director of Special Forces for combat operations, by parachute, was on 5 November 1956 during the Suez crisis.

BBC Debts.com

Lord Sharkey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Financial Conduct Authority's finding that it has been carrying out consumer credit activities without their permission or authorisation, why BBCDebts.com is still active in the United Kingdom.

Lord Deighton: This question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply to the Noble Lord directly by letter. A copy of the response will be placed in the Library of the House.

Borders: Personal Records

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the introduction of exit checks at United Kingdom borders will not affect (1) freedom of movement, and (2) the efficiency of international transport operators; and what options the Home Office is considering, as part of the introduction of such checks, to increase automation of passport checks at (a) ports, (b) airports, and (c) vehicle borders.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Home Office is satisfied that exit checks will be entirely consistent with free movement rights. We are working with industry to integrate exit checks with the grain of existing carrier and port processes and with technology, to the extent that this is in place at sea ports, airports and international stations. Any operator proposal to introduce additional technology would need to support the effective delivery of exit checks and maintained the integrity and security of the border.

Borders: Personal Records

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 15 July (WA 111), whether the comprehensive exit checks on passengers departing on scheduled commercial air, sea and rail routes which will apply from April 2015 will enable a check to be made on whether those who have been admitted to the United Kingdom on visas or permits for limited periods have complied with the required departure date; and what arrangements they propose for exit checks on those leaving by non-scheduled aircraft or by private boats.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Exit checks will improve our knowledge of who is leaving the UK so we are better able to respond appropriately. We will bring together entry and exit data with visa and immigration application records to help identify those who have failed to leave the UK when they should have done so. Currently there are no plans to use the Embarkation Checks powers in the 2014 Immigration Act for General Aviation and General Maritime operators. We are working separately with those sectors to improve our ability to control departures from the UK by non-scheduled aircraft and private boats.

Borders: Personal Records

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 15 July (WA 111), whether in specifying the second generation of e-gates under the Border Systems Programme they took account of the border control systems in operation in the United States and Hong Kong.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: When Border Systems drafted the requirements for the proposed next generation of ePassport gates, similar systems globally were reviewed and their merits were considered. This included those systems in the US (Global Entry and NEXUS/SENTRI) and Hong Kong (e-Channels). Border Systems works closely with its counterparts in the US and Hong Kong, and its representatives have visited both countries to assess and review the automation in operation. Reciprocal visits to the UK have also been made by those countries.

Broadband

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the proposal to deploy smart meters requiring wifi in homes, what progress has been made with the rollout of broadband.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: There is no direct link between the smart meter programme and the superfast broadband rollout programme, because the smart meters programme will not be using fixed broadband connections (they will instead involve transfer of small amounts of data over wireless technologies).
	However, I can confirm that the Government broadband programme is making good progress with over 600,000 new premises now having superfast broadband available for the first time as a result of the Government’s investment and that will rise to over 1 million by the end of Summer 2014.

Brunei

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the freedom to worship of British Christian and Jewish visitors to Brunei.

Lord Popat: British visitors can worship at Anglican and Catholic Churches in Brunei. The former Senior Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Rt Hon Baroness Warsi, attended an Easter Sunday service at St Andrew’s Church on 20 April. There are no synagogues but private worship is permitted.
	Brunei’s constitution protects religious freedom. In practice though, restrictions are imposed by administrative regulations and laws, including under the phased implementation of the Sharia (Syariah) Penal Code Order 2013. For example, proselytism by faiths other than the officially sanctioned Shafi’i school of Islam is not permitted. We urged Brunei to protect their citizens' constitutional rights to freedom of religion or belief, and to not impose restrictions on minority faith groups at their Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations Human Rights Council in May.

Cardiovascular System: Diseases

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made against each of the actions in their Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy.

Earl Howe: It is for NHS England, working with Public Health England (PHE) and other stakeholders, to implement the actions set out in the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Outcomes Strategy. NHS England has established a working group with PHE which meets quarterly to discuss progress on the strategy and is taking action on all the recommendations, some it has prioritised over others.
	For example, on making benchmarked data on CVD risk factors available, PHE has established a CVD National Cardiovascular Intelligence Network and a Partnership Board. These bring together a variety of stakeholders which hold or have an interest in this type of data, including the leads of the existing clinical audits covering cardiovascular disease.
	PHE also continues to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of CVD by running campaigns such as Act FAST. This has been the Department’s and PHE’s most successful campaign and continues to help people
	experiencing the signs and symptoms of a stroke get to hospital quicker. The campaign will be run again during 2014-15.
	NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Cardiac Disease established a Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH) advisory group which has identified some of the barriers to identifying more families with FH and will continue to develop and spread good practice in this field.
	At a local level, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are being encouraged to implement the Strategy with the support of the twelve Strategic Clinical Networks. These networks are working with CCGs and other partners in the health and care system to identify local and regional priorities for cardiac and renal disease, diabetes and stroke.
	All 152 local authorities are offering the NHS Health Check programme, which aims to present heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease. Local authorities have a legal duty to deliver the programme to all of their eligible population once every five years. In 2013-14 a total of 2.8 million people (18.5%) of the five years eligible population were offered an NHS Health Check while just fewer than 1.4 million received an NHS Health Check, equating to 49% of those offered. This is the greatest number of NHS Health Checks offered and received in one year since the programme began.

Charity Commission

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to publish the responses to their consultation on extending the Charity Commission’s powers to tackle abuse in charities; and if so, when.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Government has carefully considered the responses to the consultation on extending the Charity Commission’s powers to tackle abuse in charities. The intention is to publish a summary of consultation feedback in the usual manner after the summer recess, followed by a draft bill for pre-legislative scrutiny.

Children: Day Care

Lord Sutherland of Houndwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 28 July (WA 247) what specific estimates they have made of the expected “positive impact” of the childcare element of Universal Credit on work incentives for mothers and corresponding employment rates and tax receipts from mothers paying income tax and national insurance.

Lord Freud: The announced measures mean from April 2016 families with children
	who have childcare costs below the defined limits will see an improved financial incentive to work and to work more hours.
	Once Universal Credit is fully rolled out many working families will face an improved incentive to work, including 100,000 families who will get childcare support for the first time under Universal Credit. The precise improvement an individual faces will vary according to circumstance.
	We have not made a specific estimate of how this feeds through into employment rates and tax receipts.

China

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of China about China's obligations under Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, following the recent demolition of several churches and the removal of crosses from others.

Lord Popat: We have concerns about all restrictions placed on freedom of religion and belief in China. This includes the destruction of churches and the removal of crosses from others. We believe that freedom of thought, conscience and religion is a fundamental human right, and continue to raise our concerns with Chinese counterparts.
	We raised our particular concerns about religious buildings in China directly with Chinese authorities during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue on 19-20 May. We also highlight our broad range of concerns publicly in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy and in quarterly updates to it.

Codes of Practice

Lord Hennessy of Nympsfield: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to restore and update the Cabinet Office Precedent Book.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Cabinet Office Precedent Book has been largely superseded by the Cabinet Manual, the Ministerial Code, including Travel by Ministers and the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, which are public documents.

Council of Ministers

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 21 July (WA 156), how many times since 2008 the Council of the European Union has disagreed with items on its agenda previously agreed within Coreper and to be decided without discussion as A-items.

Lord Popat: The Government does not record information on how many times the Council has chosen not to adopt an item as an “A” point following a preparatory meeting of The Committee of Permanent
	Representatives (COREPER). Where an item is on the agenda for a meeting of the Council of the European Union, COREPER will prepare that item but will not itself take any decision: the decision is for the Council to take. If a matter is planned for agreement as an A point at a Council meeting and it appears that agreement is not possible, it would be either withdrawn from the agenda or made the subject of discussion at that meeting.

Debts

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of regulation of debt management companies.

Lord Deighton: The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, including the debt management industry, by transferring regulation from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014.
	The Government welcomes the binding rules the FCA has placed on debt management firms, including new prudential and client money requirements to better protect consumers’ money.
	Under the new regime the FCA has robust powers to protect borrowers – there is no limit to the fines which the FCA can levy and it can require firms to provide redress to consumers.
	The FCA will thoroughly assess every debt management firm’s fitness to trade as part of the authorisation process. The debt management industry has been called forward first for authorisation, from this October.

Debts

Lord Sharkey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answers by Lord Newby on 28 July (HL Deb, cols. 1409–11), whether cold callers recruiting for debt management companies are required to advise of the existence of free debt management services; if so, who is responsible for enforcing that requirement; and how many infractions have been recognised.

Lord Deighton: Lead generators for debt management firms are not subject to regulation directly, but the FCA requires regulated debt management firms that accept leads from lead generators to satisfy themselves that the business has been procured fairly and in accordance with relevant legislation, including the requirements of the Data Protection Act and the Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulations. Debt management firms must ensure that lead generators calling on their behalf make clear the identity of the firm, and the purpose of the communication, so the consumer can decide whether to proceed. Additionally, at first contact with a customer, debt management firms must signpost consumers to the availability of
	“free” debt advice. The FCA is able to impose sanctions on regulated debt management firms, such as imposing unlimited fines and ordering firms to pay money back to customers, where wrongdoing is found.

Debts: Advisory Services

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what further plans they have to support charities and other organisations that seek to help people in financial difficulty.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Government is committing to supporting charities working with the vulnerable and disadvantaged, including those supporting people in financial difficulty.
	For example, Cabinet Office has contributed over £32 million towards the Big Lottery Fund’s Advice Service Transition Fund. This fund is supporting many not-for-profit advice providers working with individuals in financial difficulty. We have also convened an Affordable Lending Steering Group, working to address the barriers that limit community lenders’ ability to provide services to those in need.

Diplomatic Relations

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what new initiatives they are taking to maximise the use of soft power in their international diplomacy.

Lord Popat: The Government has taken a number of recent initiatives to maximise Britain’s soft power, as detailed in our response to the House of Lords Select Committee on Soft Power and the UK's Influence Report of session 2013-14 (Command Paper Cm 8879 of June 2014).
	We have increased the 2015-16 budget for the Chevening Scholarship Programme from £18.24m to £45m and trebled the number of places for applicants in developing countries. We are supporting the development of the Chevening Alumni Alliance, and my Rt Hon Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire) held an event at Chevening on 9 July to celebrate the programme’s thirtieth anniversary, with some of its best known alumni.
	We have increased our funding for the GREAT Britain campaign for 2014-15 from £30m to £46.5m, with the aim of generating a further £1 billion of economic benefits for the UK. Already the GREAT Britain campaign has delivered an audited economic return of £580m to date.
	We hosted the first Girl Summit with UNICEF on 22 July, aimed at mobilising domestic and international efforts to end female genital mutilation and child, early and forced marriage. This involved 650 participants from 50 countries. The former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon.
	Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), also co-chaired the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in June, involving 1,700 delegates and 129 country delegations.

Energy Companies Obligation

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will extend the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund to provide householders with additional financial support via the Energy Company Obligation where they are replacing their central heating boiler and that boiler is reliant on off-grid supplies.

Baroness Verma: The Green Deal Home Improvement Fund closed to new applications on 24th July 2014 as the value of applications made to date had reached the available budget.
	However, the Government has a range of other energy efficiency schemes which can help households who need assistance with energy efficiency measures, including for repairing and replacing ‘non-gas’ heating systems. These include Green Deal Finance, the Affordable Warmth element of the Energy Company Obligation and the Renewable Heat Incentive.
	The Government has set up the Energy Saving Advice Service (0300 123 1234) which provides the public with independent advice about these and other energy efficiency schemes.

Entry Clearances

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are any citizens of foreign countries who require a visa to enter the United Kingdom but who do not require a visa to enter the Republic of Ireland.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Citizens of the following countries and territories require visas to visit the UK but not the Republic of Ireland: Bolivia, Fiji, Guyana, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland and Taiwan.

Ethiopia

Baroness Quin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they give, when allocating aid to Ethiopia, to the human rights situation in that country, particularly in relation to the Oromo population.

Baroness Northover: When allocating aid to Ethiopia, Her Majesty’s Government assesses the commitment of the Ethiopian government to our ‘Partnership Principles’, one of which relates to ‘Human Rights and International Obligations’. This assessment shapes how we work with the Government of Ethiopia in delivery of our aid.
	We are concerned at recent events related to student protests in Oromia and have raised this issue at the highest levels of the Ethiopian government. We will continue to raise our concerns, press for an investigation into what happened, and for any members of the security forces who have used excessive force to be held to account.

EU Regional Policy

Baroness Quin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their priorities regarding the European Union cohesion policy.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The budget and main regulations governing European Union cohesion policy for the 2014-20 programming period were agreed formally in December 2013. The focus now is on effective implementation.

Eurogroup

Lord Harrison: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the United Kingdom has ever been offered the opportunity to attend Eurogroup meetings; and if so, on how many occasions and what was their response.

Lord Deighton: In the context of the euro area sovereign debt crisis the Eurogroup has met in an extended format on occasion, including in May 2011 and January 2012. Chaired by the Eurogroup President, these meetings were attended by Ministers from non-euro area Member States including the United Kingdom.

European Union: Legislative Competence

Lord Kinnock: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the statement of the Foreign Secretary on the Andrew Marr Show on 20 July, which powers of the European Union they consider must be repatriated to Member States; what they consider should be done at national level and what should be done at a European level, and how the they propose to secure those changes.

Baroness Warsi: The UK is working with partners to achieve a reformed European Union (EU), that is more competitive, flexible and democratically accountable. This includes ensuring that action is taken at a national level wherever possible and at EU level only where necessary.
	We have already made progress over reforms such as bringing fish stock decisions from pan-EU to regional level and removing UK liability for any further Eurozone bailouts. We will continue with partners to make sure decisions are only made at EU level where they cannot be better made at national level.

Female Genital Mutilation

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to governments in countries where female genital mutilation (FGM) is practised; and what steps they have taken to verify reports that ISIS is introducing compulsory FGM in areas they control.

Lord Popat: The Government is playing a key role in supporting and strengthening the international movement to end female genital mutilation (FGM) worldwide, within a generation. Given that the vast majority of communities who practise FGM are found in 29 countries clustered in West Africa, Egypt, Sudan and the Horn of Africa and that change must come from within affected communities, we have sought to support the existing African-led movement to end FGM, and build upon the success of the Africa Group 2012 UN resolution that banned the practice.
	It is in this spirit that the Prime Minister, my right honourable friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), convened the first global summit on ending FGM and child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) on 22 July 2014. The Girl Summit brought together 650 participants from 50 affected countries. It resulted in 32 countries signing the Summit Charter and private and public financial pledges of $88 million to end CEFM and $7million for FGM. Ministers and senior officials worked with all countries affected by FGM, including countries where it is practised by diaspora communities, in advance of the Summit to encourage them to develop new commitments to end FGM. This is in addition to the UK’s flagship programme of £35 million over 5 years to support African countries to end FGM, and an additional £12 million commitment in Sudan.
	Reports that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) is introducing compulsory FGM in areas they control remain unconfirmed. Staff at our Embassy in Iraq have spoken to the Head of UN Human Rights Office, the Head of UN Women, and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, all of whom were unable to confirm the reports. We also remain in contact with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). On balance, we conclude that the threat, while a serious matter, is not new. We continue to follow developments as closely as possible.

Financial Conduct Authority

Lord Sharkey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many visits there have been from April 2014 to the last month for which data are available to the page on the Financial Conduct Authority website listing unauthorised firms and individuals to avoid.

Lord Deighton: This Question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply to directly to the noble Lord directly by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Food Supply Networks Review

Lord Rooker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord De Mauley on 14 July (WA 94), on what date they received Professor Elliott’s final report into the food chain; whether any amendments have subsequently been made; when it was ready for publication; and whether it will be published before 30 July.

Lord De Mauley: Professor Elliott submitted a first draft of his final report to Defra and Department of Health in June 2014. We received an amended draft on 4 July ahead of any final formatting and the correction of typing errors. The final print ready version was received on 18 July and will be published shortly.

Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment has been made at the Girl Summit 2014 of the role played by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) in safeguarding the health of women and girls, and in addressing gender-related barriers to accessing immunisation services; and what assessment they have made of the cost-effectiveness so far of the United Kingdom’s contribution towards GAVI’s programme, agreed in the Multilateral Aid Review of March 2011.

Baroness Northover: The focus of Girl Summit 2014 was on ending female genital mutilation and child, early and forced marriage. No specific assessment was made at the Summit on the role of the GAVI Alliance in safeguarding the health of women and girls or addressing gender-related barriers to accessing immunisation services. However, GAVI is rolling out
	two vaccines that will directly benefit girls and women: rubella vaccine, which protects against a disease damaging to unborn children; and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine, which helps prevent cervical cancer, one of the leading causes of death in young women in sub-Saharan Africa. GAVI will immunise over 30 million girls with HPV vaccines during 2013-2020 which will prevent over 150,000 women dying each year. GAVI is working to overcome the barriers to introducing the HPV vaccine in developing countries by reducing the high cost of the vaccine and tackling the challenges of immunising girls aged nine to thirteen years by integrating HPV immunisation with wider health interventions targeted at adolescent girls.
	The UK’s support to GAVI remains a highly cost-effective way to achieve childhood immunisation results at scale. The 2011 UK Multilateral Aid Review (MAR) ranked GAVI as being very good value for money. The 2013 MAR Update confirmed that GAVI is continuing to make reasonable progress. An example of this is that GAVI helped to secure a reduction in price of 35% between 2010-2012 of the three vaccines it spends the most money on.

Health Services and Social Services

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the actual or estimated annual expenditure, stated in 2010 prices, in (1) 2013–14, and (2) 2009–10, on each of the following items of National Health Service and social care expenditure: (a) primary care, (b) community health services, (c) community mental health services, (d) continuing care, (e) public health, (f) social care (national), (g) social care (local government), and (h) social care (privately funded); and what was the total actual or estimated expenditure from public funds on health and social care for each of those years in 2010 prices.

Earl Howe: For some elements of the question, the information is not collected to the detail requested. There are discontinuities in all categories stipulated in the question and therefore any comparison between the two years would be invalid. Such information as is available is as follows.
	In 2009-10, primary care trusts (PCTs) reported the following spending outturns relating to commissioning activity in their accounts returns:
	
		
			  2009-10 
			  £m 
			 Primary Care 19,714 
			 Community Health Services 7,966 
			 Continuing Care 2,026 
		
	
	In this year, PCTs did not separately report spending to the detail requested on:
	- community mental health services; and- public health.
	Spending on social care cannot be provided to the detail requested; however the Department for Communities and Local Government has reported total net spending on social care by local authorities of £20,963 million in 2009-10. This is a net figure and includes any income from service user charges and from Department of Health grants to local authorities.
	Since 2009-10, there have been a number of changes to the way spending is categorised and recorded:
	- primary care – spending is not comparable to the 2009-10 spending outturns. The 2013-14 spending outturn will exclude any public health spending, and other such functions that have now transferred elsewhere in the health and social care system, that would have been included in the 2009-10 spending outturn.- community health services – spending is only recorded for services commissioned by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and excludes any direct commissioning undertaken by NHS England itself.
	NHS England has reported the following spending outturns relating to commissioning activity in 2013-14:
	
		
			  2013-14 2013-14 
			  Nominal in 2009-10 prices 
			  £m £m 
			 Primary Care 20,156 18,683 
			 Community Health Services (CCGs only) 6,443 5,972 
			 Continuing Care 3,722 3,450 
			 Public Health - section 7a 1,562 1,448 
		
	
	Public Health England has responsibility for the following additional public health related spending:
	
		
			  2013-14 2013-14 
			  Nominal in 2009-10 prices 
			  £m £m 
			 Public Health grants to Local Authorities 2,663 2,468 
			 Other 675 626 
		
	
	The Department for Communities and Local Government has reported the following total net spending on social care by local authorities in 2013-14, net of any income from service user charges and grant funding provided by NHS England:
	
		
			  2013-14 2013-14 
			  Nominal in 2009-10 prices 
			  £m £m 
			 Local Authority - Social Care spending 21,286 19,729 
			 Of which, funding provided by NHS England 859 796 
		
	
	These figures are indicative. Final figures spending figures and breakdowns will be available later this year.
	The Department of Health’s Total Departmental Expenditure Limit (TDEL) is used. This is the total Revenue and Capital DEL expenditure, excluding
	depreciation, by those bodies within the Departmental Group. These are the standard spending controls against which the Department of Health is held accountable to Parliament.
	This data is comparable across the two years. The following table summarises the TDEL outturn for both years:
	
		
			  2009-10 2013-14 2013-14 
			  Nominal Nominal in 2009-10 prices 
			  £m £m £m 
			 Total DEL spending outturn 98,419 109,774 101,750

Higher and Further Education: Admissions

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they intend to take to increase the number of students enrolling in further and higher education; and how they intend to fund any growth in student numbers in 2015–16, in the light of the announcement on 20 July that the student loan book will not be sold.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Further and Higher Education Institutions are responsible for attracting students. The Government has implemented a reform programme enabling FE colleges to use their freedoms and flexibilities to provide the high quality skills their learners, local economy and businesses need. There is an increased drive for employer ownership of skills funding, a continuing growth, and reform of, the Apprenticeships programme and an opportunity for individuals aged 24 and over studying at Level 3 and 4 to have access to Loans to help meet up-front course fees. The Government will raise the cap on HE student numbers to fund up to 30,000 additional places in 2014/15 and remove this cap altogether in 2015/16, except for high risk providers. Funding for this expansion is already agreed with HMT over the Spending Review period. Student numbers are not contingent on the sale and all departments’ budget provision beyond 2015-2016 will be agreed as part of the next Spending Review.

Higher Education: Ethnic Groups

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support universities to address the problems highlighted in the recent report published by the Nuffield Foundation and the London School of Economics entitled Black and Minority Ethnic Access To Higher Education: A Reassessment.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Government is committed to access to Higher Education (HE) based on talent and potential, irrespective of background. Promoting equal opportunities is taken very seriously
	and we have put in place a strong legal framework which protects the rights of people not to be discriminated against, through the Equality Act 2010.
	Whilst universities are independent and autonomous organisations, responsible for their own admissions decisions, the Equality Act places clear duties and responsibilities on them to ensure that students with protected characteristics do not face discrimination or less favourable treatment whilst applying to, and studying in, higher education.

Hong Kong

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how often, and with what result, they have raised breaches of Hong Kong's Basic Law with China in the last five years.

Lord Popat: We monitor closely the implementation of One Country, Two Systems, as enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.
	We discuss issues relating to Hong Kong regularly at senior levels with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government and with the Chinese authorities. As the former Foreign Secretary noted in the most recent Six Monthly Report to Parliament, Official Record 10 July Col 33WS, Hong Kong’s unique constitutional framework has worked well. We have made clear that it is vital it continues to be respected, and is seen to be respected, by all sides.

Indonesia

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the freedom to worship of British Christian and Jewish visitors to Indonesia.

Lord Popat: Indonesia has a strong tradition of religious diversity and tolerance and in general those of minority faiths in Indonesia, including any British visitors, are able to practise their religion. Various denominations of Christian churches are well represented across Indonesia. The Jewish community in Indonesia is very small, although there is at least one working synagogue. However, we are concerned that there has been a rise of localised instances of inter- and intra-religious conflict, and examples where the rights of religious minority groups have not been protected.
	The former Senior Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the right honourable Baroness Warsi, convened meetings of international leaders, including with the Foreign Minister of Indonesia, to generate practical steps to promote freedom of religion or belief, and to fight religious intolerance within our societies. Our Ambassador in Jakarta has discussed these issues with Indonesian Ministers, civil society,
	and religious leaders. We have supported projects to improve respect for freedom of religion or belief. We also raise freedom of religion and belief concerns at the annual EU-Indonesia Human Rights Dialogue. We continue to monitor the situation and raise any concerns with the Government of Indonesia.

Internet

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what if any financial arrangements they have with the Internet Computer Bureau which allow the latter to make money from the sale of dependent territory domain names.

Lord Popat: The British Government has no financial arrangement with the Internet Computer Bureau, which is the Domain Name Registrar or Network Information Centre for a number of domains including for some of the Overseas Territories.

Iraq

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the state of freedom of religion and belief in Iraq.

Lord Popat: We are deeply concerned about the situation in Iraq including freedom of religion and belief. We condemn the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) threats to ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq, including Christian, Yezidi and Turkomen and the desecration of mosques and churches by ISIL. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the member for Bournemouth East ( Mr Ellwood), met Archbishop Athanasius of the Syriac Orthodox Church in London on 29 July and issued a statement strongly condemning the persecution of Christians and other minorities in Iraq. Our Ambassador in Baghdad has met religious representatives, including Chaldean Patriarch Luis Sako, and the Consul General in Erbil has met the Archbishop of Erbil and the Archbishop of Mosul to discuss the current situation, the needs of the Christian community, and UK humanitarian assistance to those displaced by fighting in Iraq. On Sunday 3 August, the British Chargé d‘Affaires attended a service at St George’s Anglican Church in Baghdad, joined by officials from our Embassy, to highlight the British Government’s continued support to Christians and other minorities affected by recent violence in Iraq.

Iraq

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to respond to the humanitarian situation caused by the displacement of persons from ISIS-controlled areas of Iraq.

Baroness Northover: We are deeply concerned by the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Iraq. DFID deployed an advisory team to Erbil in June 2014 to conduct a rapid humanitarian assessment and has committed £5 million of humanitarian aid to respond to the level of need in the north of Iraq. This will be distributed to those most in need through trusted and long-standing humanitarian partners.

Iraq

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to referring the alleged human rights abuses committed by ISIS to the International Criminal Court for further investigation and eventual prosecution.

Lord Popat: We condemn all human rights abuses in Iraq. However, Iraq is not a state party to the International Criminal Court and any referral would need to be through the UN Security Council. We have no plans for this at present but we will keep this under review. We are calling on the Government of Iraq to ensure that all crimes and human rights abuses committed in Iraq are properly documented to assist with the investigation, and bringing those responsible to account in the future.

Iraq

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to assist religious leaders in Iraq to respond collaboratively and in a non-sectarian manner to the human rights abuses allegedly committed in Iraq.

Lord Popat: We condemn the reported human rights abuses in Iraq and call for those responsible to be held to account. We meet representatives of Iraqi religious groups both in the UK and in Iraq, and fund a series of grass roots meetings with religious leaders of different faiths to combat sectarianism. We are encouraging influential religious leaders in Iraq to speak out publicly and condemn sectarian violence. The High Council of Religious Leaders in Iraq has issued a strong statement of solidarity with Christians and Muslims in Mosul and Ninevah, citing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's actions to be entirely un-Islamic.

Iraq

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the Iraqi President, Speaker and acting Prime Minister about the early establishment of an inclusive government there.

Lord Popat: Our Ambassador in Baghdad has made representations to the Speaker and President to urge the early establishment of an inclusive government and we continue to raise this with Iraqi leaders at the highest levels. The former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), also discussed the issue with Prime Minister Maliki during his visit in June.

Israel

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the total number of dual national British–Israeli citizens serving in the Israeli Defence Force.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of British citizens engaged in operations against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Baroness Warsi: The Government has made no assessment of the number of British and British-Israeli citizens serving in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). Any UK national serving abroad in the armed forces of any state is bound by the laws of armed conflict and any local laws that apply.

Israel

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to take any action against those British citizens serving in the Israeli Defence Force.

Baroness Warsi: The Government has made no assessment of the number of British and British-Israeli citizens serving in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). Any UK national serving abroad in the armed forces of any state is bound by the laws of armed conflict and any local laws that apply.

Israel

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have published any information for the British citizens travelling to Israel regarding the possibility of their involvement in operations in Gaza.

Baroness Warsi: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) publishes travel advice on its website for any British citizens planning to travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The FCO currently advises against all travel to Gaza.

Lloyds Banking Group

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to take any action in connection with those who served on the board of Lloyds Banking Group when that company was involved in LIBOR fixing and manipulating the Bank of England’s Special Liquidity Scheme.

Lord Deighton: We support the proportionate enforcement action announced recently by the FCA
	against Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) and are clear that such abuses are completely unacceptable. The action by the new, tougher Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) shows that the system is working, and we are committed to taking further action to dealing with abuses, tackling the unacceptable behaviour of the few and ensuring that markets are fair for the many who depend on them.
	Enforcement action against individuals and/or firms with regard to financial conduct issues are a matter for the FCA and law enforcement institutions.

Malaysia

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 21 January (WA 136), what progress has been made in resuming the European Union–Malaysia Human Rights Dialogue; and whether they have asked the government of Malaysia how it reconciles the endorsement of the 2004 Amman Message (recognising the validity of all eight Islamic legal schools including Shia) with actions taken by the Malaysian authorities.

Lord Popat: Discussions continue between the EU and Malaysia on the resumption of the EU-Malaysia Human Rights Dialogue. We are keen to have a Dialogue of substance. Bilaterally, we have regular conversations with the Malaysian government on human rights issues, including freedom of religion.

Marriage: Ceremonies

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will ensure that registered civil partners wishing to undergo a marriage ceremony with religious elements receive equal treatment as same sex couples who are not registered civil partners and wish to marry in the same way.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Conversion of Civil Partnership) Regulations 2014 bans the use of religious services at conversion.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Government is committed to ensuring that couples wishing to convert their civil partnership in to a marriage can do so from 10 December 2014.
	The draft Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Conversion of Civil Partnership) Regulations 2014, which were laid in the House on 3rd July 2014, provide for a simple conversion process, which is not, and was never envisaged to be, a marriage ceremony. The draft regulations were prepared in accordance with the provision made by Section 9 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act
	2013, in particular subsections (4) and (5), which was debated at length in both Houses of Parliament during the passage of the Bill.
	The process was conceived in line with responses from those in civil partnerships to the public consultation in 2012, which called for a simple, straightforward and low cost way for couples to convert their civil partnership into a marriage. Stakeholders expressed a desire for a conversion process which would not undermine the significance of the original civil partnership and which would avoid creating undue new burdens or costs for couples. Accordingly the conversion process was not envisaged to be a process which would replicate a marriage ceremony, whether religious or secular, but was rather intended to be an easy administrative process by which couples converted their civil partnerships and had these recognised as marriages from the date the civil partnership was formed. Couples who did want to celebrate the conversion with family and friends could choose to hold some form of non-statutory celebratory ceremony following the conversion itself, if they so wished.
	We continue to listen to the views expressed by stakeholders during the implementation of the Act. We have heard views articulated by stakeholders in recent weeks raising concerns with the conversion process as set out in the draft regulations as laid and in particular regarding the possibility of incorporating religious elements within conversions. We will consider these views and whether suitable options exist for addressing them within the legal framework established by the Act over the summer.

Mediation

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will publish their response to their consultation on Alternative Dispute Resolution for consumers which began in March.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Government intends to publish the response to the consultation on Alternative Dispute Resolution for consumers in the autumn.

Middle East

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of Israeli civilians who have been (1) killed, and (2) wounded, as a result of rockets fired at Israeli cities in the past fortnight; what assessment they have made of the number of Palestinian civilians living in Gaza who have been (1) killed, and (2) wounded, as a result of the latest military intervention by Israel in Gaza; and what proportion of those Palestinian casualties they estimate were children.

Baroness Warsi: As of 24 July, two Israeli civilians have been killed (one by mortar bomb, one by rocket fire). 11 Israeli civilians have been injured. The Palestinian Ministry of Health figures, as of afternoon of 24 July, records the number of Palestinian civilians killed as 738 and injured as 4620. As of the morning of 24 July, 170 Palestinian children have been killed and 1,213 children have been injured.

Middle East

Baroness Uddin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the statement by the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights that Israel's latest military offensive in Gaza “could amount to war crimes”.

Lord Popat: We have taken note of the statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. We have not responded directly but we have commented on a number of the issues she has raised. The UK is deeply concerned by the continuing bloodshed in Gaza. It is tragic that so many innocent civilians, including women and children, have been killed and injured. The UK has consistently made clear that Israel must act proportionately, exercise restraint, and take every step to minimise civilian casualties, in line with International Humanitarian Law. The urgent priority now is to stop the bloodshed, re-impose a cease-fire and work to find a longer term solution. All our efforts will be concentrated on that objective.

Middle East

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Israel concerning the reported shooting of unarmed Palestinian civilians in the West Bank between 25 and 26 July by both the Israel Defence Forces and by settlers.

Lord Popat: Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv raised this issue with the Israeli Defence Forces and the Israeli Border Police on 25 July.
	Our Ambassador to Tel Aviv raised the issue of violence in the West Bank with the Yesha Council (the main settler organisation) Foreign Envoy and the Israeli Director of External Affairs on 28 July.

Middle East

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to assess the impact of prolonged attacks on Gaza on (1) the mental health of the population, and (2) water supplies.

Baroness Northover: DFID works closely with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA), which manages the process of collecting, analysing and sharing information about
	the humanitarian situation. According to OCHA’s most recent assessment at least 373,000 children require direct and specialised psychosocial support and 1.5 million people not in shelters have no or extremely restricted access to water.
	The UK will provide more than £15 million in emergency support for Gaza. DFID activated a £3 million Rapid Response Facility (RRF) which will mean that more than half a million people in Gaza will receive medical care, clean water and sanitation. Three of the NGOs funded under the RRF are providing psychosocial support and one will be providing advanced mental health care. DFID also brought forward £3 million in funding to the International Committee of the Red Cross to help them repair water infrastructure, deliver emergency medical services and protect the civilian population.

Middle East

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning the Palestinians reportedly killed and injured during West Bank protests against the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

Lord Popat: Our Ambassador to Tel Aviv raised the issue of violence in the West Bank with the Yesha Council (the main settler organisation) Foreign Envoy and the Israeli Director of External Affairs on 28 July.

Middle East

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made as to whether the shelling of the Ash Shuja’iyeh district, the United Nations school compound and Al Shifa and Al Wafah hospitals should be investigated as possible war crimes.

Lord Popat: We have not made an assessment of whether the incidents you raise should be investigated as possible war crimes. However, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), along with the Secretary of State for International Development, my right honourable friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening), issued a statement expressing shock at the deaths at the UN school on 25 July. International Humanitarian Law is clear that all feasible precautions must be taken to avoid harm to civilians during a military attack.

Ministers

Lord Jopling: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 22 July (WA 197), how many of the 13 ministers who are not in receipt of a ministerial salary are members of (1) the House of Commons, and (2) the House of Lords.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: There are currently three Ministers who are Members of the House of Commons and 10 Ministers who are Members of the House of Lords who are not in receipt of a ministerial salary.
	Information on current government Ministers, including those who are unpaid, was published in July 2014. I will place a copy in the Library.

National Careers Service

Baroness Uddin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what level of training in autism awareness National Careers Service advisers are expect to have.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: National Careers Service contractors are required to have a well qualified and professional workforce to underpin the delivery of impartial careers information, advice and guidance (IAG) to young people and adults. In order to meet this requirement all advisers must hold qualifications which are appropriate to their role. For front line advisers this will include IAG qualifications at level 3 and above which includes assessments of an advisers ability to establish effective communication with all customers to help them make informed choices, including those individuals with conditions such as autism. Contractors are required to have workforce training and development plans in place to make sure staff are equipped to meet the needs of all customer groups, which will include awareness training about specific learning disabilities and difficulties.

Nigeria

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that Royal Dutch Shell's subsidiarity in Nigeria has failed to deal with oil pollution from its pipelines, as recommended by the United Nations Environment Programme.

Lord Popat: We are aware of the UN Environment Programme report on pollution in the Niger Delta. Oil spills in the Niger Delta occur because of criminal activity as well as oil company operations. We continue to closely monitor the situation in the Delta and raise pollution both with the Nigerian government and the oil companies.
	The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mr Simmonds), saw the environmental degradation in the Delta first hand during his visit to Nigeria in February 2014. On that visit he discussed these issues with President Jonathan and senior officials at Shell.

Nigeria

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effects of oil pollution on the Bodo community in Rivers State in Nigeria; and whether they have any plans to meet representatives of Royal Dutch Shell to ascertain a timetable for the clean up of the oil spills there.

Lord Popat: We are aware of the impact that oil pollution has had on the Bodo community and a number of other communities in Rivers State Nigeria. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mr Simmonds), discussed the area's environmental problems with Shell during his visit to the Delta in February 2014.
	We maintain an ongoing dialogue with the Government of Nigeria and oil companies operating in the Delta, including Shell, through which we continue to press for environmental responsibility in the oil and gas sector.

Nigeria

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to request information from Royal Dutch Shell on any plans to ensure that its pipeline infrastructure in Nigeria is properly maintained to international standards.

Lord Popat: We maintain an ongoing dialogue with Shell and other oil companies operating in the Niger Delta and use such discussions to raise environmental concerns and stress the oil companies’ corporate responsibility, including the maintenance of equipment.

Nigeria

Baroness Cox: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made representations to the government of Nigeria concerning reports of abductions in North-Eastern Nigeria this year in addition to the recent kidnapping of girls in Chibok; and whether they have asked the government of Nigeria what steps are being taken by federal and state governments there to rescue those abducted and to provide protection for civilians from further abductions.

Lord Popat: The Government is playing a leading role in the international response to the threat posed by Boko Haram, including its despicable practice of abducting men, women and children in north-eastern Nigeria. On 12 June the former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), announced a substantial new package of UK military, intelligence and development to support Nigeria as it tackles terrorism.
	We continue to engage with Nigerian officials at both federal and state level to discuss their efforts to secure the release of those abducted and to provide protection for their civilians from the terrorist threat.

North Korea

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Baroness Warsi on 23 July (HL Deb, cols GC 460–4) on the Commission of Inquiry Report on human rights in North Korea, whether any projects to improve the substantive human rights of North Koreans, rather than cultural, economic or humanitarian initiatives, are to be implemented; and whether such projects are being considered for North Korean refugees outside the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Lord Popat: It is not possible for the UK to carry out projects in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) without the cooperation of the DPRK authorities. This has an impact on the type of projects we are able to support, although we have successfully taken forward projects in some areas of human rights, such as disability rights. In the Financial Year 2014/15 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO’s) Human Rights and Democracy Programme is funding a project delivered by the Thomson Foundation titled ‘Inside Out: Working in North Korea to connect its journalists to the Internet world’, which aims to give North Korean journalists a greater understanding of freedom of expression by teaching them Internet skills. Our other engagement projects are about finding concrete ways to inform North Korean citizens about the UK and its values, so that in the long term they recognise the benefits of working with the outside world from which they are normally isolated.
	Our Embassy in Seoul supports the North Korean refugee community through its “English for the Future” programme, which is funded with a mixture of FCO programme funds and corporate sponsorship. We also reserve one of our Chevening scholarships for this community. These programmes help new settlers tackle some of the barriers which can prevent their successful integration into South Korean society and improve their future prospects. The FCO’s Human Rights and Democracy Programme has also previously funded projects with North Korean refugee groups in the Republic of Korea which are more directly related to human rights in the DPRK, such as documenting the effects of torture or producing a report on the rights of women. We remain open to funding similar projects in the future.

Orders and Regulations

Lord Goodlad: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many statutory instruments from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have been laid this calendar year; of those, what percentage corrected errors in a previous instrument (including drafts of affirmative instruments that had to be superseded by correcting drafts); and what steps that Department is taking to reduce the need for correcting instruments.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has laid 71 statutory instruments(SI’s) in this year to date. The table below shows those that have been identified as correcting errors in previous SI’s and the SI’s corrected.
	The legal advisers in the Department for Business have this year reviewed and refreshed both the processes for the checking of SI’s and the training given to lawyers on drafting SI’s. This should reduce the incidence of drafting errors.
	
		
			 The Copyright and Duration of Rights in Performances (Amendment) Regulations 2014 [2014/434] Corrects an error in SI 2013/1782 
			 The Patents (Amendment) Rules 2014 [2014/578] Corrects an error in SI 2007/3291 
			 The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) (No 3) 2014 [2014/787] Corrects an error in SI 2014/271 
			 The Enterprise Act 2002 (Protection of Legitimate Interests) Order 2014 [2014/891] Corrects an error in SI 2003/1592 
			 The Copyright (Regulation of Relevant Licensing Bodies) Regulations 2014[2014/898] Supersedes draft Statutory Instrument of the same title laid before Parliament on 5 February and published on 10 February 
			 The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (Amendment) Regulations 2014 [2014/1771] Corrects an error in SI 2013/3113 
			 The European Union (Definition of Treaties) (Convention on Internal Interests in Mobile Equipment and Protocol thereto on matters specific to Aircraft Equipment) Order 2014 [2014/1885] Supersedes draft Statutory Instrument of the same title laid before Parliament on 11 March and published on 13 March 
		
	
	The table does not include drafts of affirmative instruments which were superseded by a further draft in identical form by reason of affirmative resolutions not having been obtained before the end of the 2013-2014 Parliamentary session and the identical draft being laid in the 2014-2015 session.

Orders and Regulations

Lord Goodlad: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many statutory instruments from the Ministry of Justice have been laid this calendar year; of those, what percentage corrected errors in a previous instrument (including drafts of affirmative instruments that had to be superseded by correcting drafts); and what steps that Department is taking to reduce the need for correcting instruments.

Lord Faulks: The Ministry of Justice laid 80 statutory instruments between the start of the calendar year and 25 July 2014. The Ministry of Justice does not keep records of which statutory instruments corrected errors in previous instruments. However, it estimates that
	three instruments (less than 4% of the total) were expressed to be correcting errors made in, in consequence of a defect in, or in substitution of, a previous instrument and were as a result issued free of charge to known recipients of the original instrument.
	The Ministry of Justice is strongly committed to improving the quality of statutory instrument drafting. In addition to providing training to relevant staff and adopting rigorous checking process (including a requirement that all instruments are subject to a second and third pair of eyes check by a lawyer who has not drafted the instrument), a new post of Statutory Instrument Co-ordinator has been established within the Legal Directorate to co-ordinate the sharing of best practice. The Ministry of Justice will also be participating in work being led by the Treasury Solicitor and First Parliamentary Counsel to enhance further the quality, consistency and effectiveness of statutory instruments across government.

Palestinians

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have sent emergency aid for the children of Gaza including medical, food and shelter.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: We have released £10 million since the latest crisis began. We are giving the UN Relief and Works Agency £4 million in new funding to provide healthcare, clean water, blankets and cooking equipment to help tens of thousands of Palestinians affected by the violence in Gaza, and £3 million to the UN World Food Programme to provide food vouchers to vulnerable families. We are also bringing forward £3 million to support the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross in repairing water infrastructure and providing emergency medical support.
	DfID is already spending almost £350 million from 2011-2015 to address a broad range of Palestinian development and humanitarian needs, of which approximately £30 million per annum is spent on Gaza.

Palestinians

Baroness Uddin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to provide medical aid in Gaza, in particular to hospitals treating injured civilians.

Baroness Northover: The UK is the third largest donor to UNRWA, the main provider of health services in Gaza, and we have announced a further £6 million to their Flash Appeal for this crisis. We have activated a £3 million Rapid Response Facility on Saturday, under which ten charities have been awarded a portion of £3 million to help them meet urgent needs. This will mean that more than half a million people in Gaza will receive medical care, clean water and sanitation.
	We have also brought forward £3 million in funding to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which will be used to help them repair water infrastructure damaged by airstrikes and deliver emergency medical services. And we support the UN Access Coordination Unit to work with the World Health Organisation, Israel, the Palestinian Authority and aid agencies to facilitate the transfer of medical equipment and supplies and patient referrals in and out of Gaza.

Palestinians

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they will take to encourage a total lifting of the blockade of Gaza.

Baroness Warsi: In close co-ordination with our European Union partners and the Office of the Quartet Representation, the Government continues to press the Israeli government at ministerial and official level to ease access restrictions. Supporting legal trade for Gazans is firmly in Israel’s long-term interests.
	We have also encouraged the Egyptian authorities to ease the movement of bona fide travellers through Rafah, and to consider expanding Rafah to goods transit in the medium term, which will help to ease humanitarian pressures.

Pensions: Advisory Services

Lord Lipsey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their consultation document Freedom and Choice in Pensions (CM 8901), on what they intend to spend the £20 million allocated in the budget for financial advice and guidance.

Lord Deighton: At Budget the Government announced that it will be making available a development fund of £20 million, which will fund preparatory work to get the guidance guarantee up and running in good time for April 2015.
	The Treasury has obtained approval for an advance of £10 million from the Contingencies Fund, to allow work on service design and implementation to proceed. I refer the noble Lord to the WMS of 21 July. The Treasury will be publishing a progress update on the service design and implementation strategy in the autumn.

Prisoners: Dependants

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the case for a statutory duty on courts to identify whether individuals sentenced to prison or held on remand have children or vulnerable adults dependent on them.

Lord Faulks: The Government has considered the case for a statutory duty on courts to inquire about the existence of dependants and satisfy themselves of the adequacy of care arrangements. The Government remains concerned, however, that the proposed statutory duty may be impractical for the courts to operate and not be effective in encouraging defendants and offenders to disclose, as early as possible, the existence of dependants. The Government is, however, examining alternative approaches to ensuring that information about dependants of those sent to custody is recorded.

Public Expenditure

Lord Barnett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent calculations by the Taxpayers’ Alliance that £120 billion of public funds was wasted last year; and what actions they are taking to ensure that public spending offers value for money.

Lord Deighton: The Government is committed to maximising value for money in all areas of public spending, and has introduced a programme to drive efficiencies and reduce wasteful expenditure. By 2014-15, departments working with HM Treasury and the Efficiency and Reform Group in the Cabinet Office will be saving £20 billion a year compared to 2009-10. Spending Round 2013 identified over £5 billion additional efficiency savings in 2015-16.
	The Government sets clear principles and guidance for the management of public resources, including achieving value for money, in Managing Public Money. Ensuring value for money is the personal responsibility of each Accounting Officer. The methods by which civil servants determine the long run value for money of programmes are set out in The Green Book: Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government.

Public Expenditure

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review the Barnett formula, in the light of the referendum on Scottish independence.

Lord Deighton: The Government position has been consistent: our priority has been to reduce the deficit and ensure a secure economic future for the whole of the UK.
	We have also been clear that no significant changes to the Barnett Formula are in prospect.

Public Expenditure: Wales

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with ministers of the Welsh Government during the last 12 months regarding replacing, or amending, the Barnett Formula as it applies to Wales.

Lord Deighton: The Government is working closely with the Welsh Government to devolve new tax and borrowing powers through the Wales Bill. The devolution of tax powers requires an adjustment to the Welsh Government’s block grant as it will instead retain certain tax revenues. The proposed block grant adjustment mechanisms are set out in the Wales Bill Command Paper.
	The Government has not had any discussions with ministers of the Welsh Government during the last 12 months regarding replacing, or amending, the Barnett Formula as it applies to Wales.
	The Government position is clear: our priority remains reducing the deficit and ensuring a secure economic future for the whole of the UK.

Religious Freedom

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they place any restrictions on the freedom to worship of those of all faiths from Brunei, Indonesia or Turkey visiting the United Kingdom.

Lord Popat: The UK does not place any restrictions on freedom to worship by those of all faiths from any country. Freedom of religion or belief and respect for religious diversity and pluralism are at the heart of British society.
	Religious freedom is a valuable indicator of wider democratic principles and is often a test of other fundamental freedoms.
	We stress that freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression are interdependent, interrelated and mutually reinforcing.

Republic of Ireland

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Randerson on 23 July (WA 221), whether they will publish on a weekly basis details of all issues of an economic and political importance discussed with the government of the Republic of Ireland.

Baroness Randerson: No. In accordance with the provisions of the Belfast Agreement, to which the Noble Lord’s former party now subscribes, the Government maintains close relations with the Irish Government on matters of political and economic importance. As is the case with other Governments, it reports to Parliament at key stages.

Revenue and Customs

Lord Tunnicliffe: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the identified savings from current and planned reorganisations of HM Revenue and Customs, including the potential numbers of reductions in headcount by region.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the consultation procedures with all HM Revenue and Customs staff in respect of current and planned reorganisations; and what are the criteria for decisions being made on future campus sites of HM Revenue and Customs offices.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support will be made available to regions that lose HM Revenue and Customs offices.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the costings of any future relocation of HM Revenue and Customs offices regionally and nationally, including those of retraining staff, redundancy and any additional resources.

Lord Deighton: HMRC is currently undertaking a programme of work to transform the services it provides to give its customers a modern, efficient service, delivered in a modern and flexible way that is convenient for them. To do this, HMRC needs to continue to become a smaller and more professional organisation that is able to maximise the revenues that pay for the UK’s public services, while making sustainable cost reductions and improving their customer service.
	Efficiencies required by the 2010 and 2013 Spending Reviews mean that HMRC’s staffing levels in relation to these plans alone will reduce to 54,000 Full Time Equivalent posts (FTE) by 2015 and to 52,000 FTE by 2016. Reduced staffing levels mean a reduced need for accommodation and HMRC has recently closed consultation on the proposed closure of 12 offices between now and December 2015. The decisions will be announced in the autumn.
	In addition to requiring efficiencies, the 2010 and 2013 Spending Reviews provide resources to increase revenue yield and to increase the department’s capacity for digital business and online services. In consequence, the costs arising from the changes HMRC is making are not readily identified and need to be considered against the savings achieved through improved working methods, increased revenue yield, reduced running costs and overall greater efficiency in the service it provides. All redundancy costs are made against strict value for money criteria.
	HMRC is still developing its plans for the future, including extensive discussions across the whole of the department through a series of events designed to start conversations with all staff about building the future of the organisation.
	HMRC is consulting with its staff on the way forward through a nationwide series of face-to-face events known as “Building our Future”, attended by
	every individual within the department. “Building our Future” explains the changes being made, the background to them and includes group discussions at which individuals consider how they can contribute.
	HMRC remains strongly committed to providing services to the regions. It has for example recently introduced a new Needs Enhanced Support service. This includes a mobile advisory service to ensure that accessible and tailored advice is available to the 1.5 million customers who need extra help.
	Its longer-term strategy continues to look to bring people together into Regional Centres, providing flexibility, improved efficiency, greater cost-effectiveness and improved career development opportunities for its staff.
	These will be drawn from its existing campus locations, where 80% cent of the department’s workforce is currently based. These centres will be supplemented by specialist sites, for location-specific work, and touchdown locations, where HMRC has a business need for a presence in a community.

Russia

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they are using to assess the impact and effectiveness of current European Union sanctions on Russia.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We judge the impact and effectiveness of sanctions based on a range of economic and political factors. Sanctions are designed to impose a cost for Russia’s actions in Ukraine, deter further escalation of this crisis, and support the wider diplomatic effort. EU measures already announced have exacerbated negative trends in Russia’s economy: capital flight in the first half of 2014 was greater than for the whole of 2013; and we have seen a significant reduction in expected growth. Russian access to western financial markets will be severely constrained as lenders consider the risks of Russian exposure in the current climate. The strengthening of sanctions should signal clearly to the Russian leadership that their policy of trying to destabilise Ukraine will have a cost for the Russian economy. The EU’s measures have in-built review mechanisms. The sanctions implemented on 31 July are in force for one year, with a review of implementation after three months.

Russia

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that United Kingdom companies conducting business in or with the government of Russia in compliance with European Union sanctions will not be subject to any penalties applied by United States authorities which allege that sanctions have been breached on the basis of the United States' system of sanctions.

Lord Livingston of Parkhead: The European Union has co-ordinated very closely with the United States on sanctions against Russia. The European Union and the United States acting in a co-ordinated manner not only has the maximum possible effect on Russia’s policy calculations but also ensures that we reduce to an absolute minimum the likelihood that any UK companies that comply with the European Union legislation will nevertheless fall foul of United States’ sanctions legislation applying extraterritorially. At present we are not aware of any specific circumstances where this is likely to occur, but any company with concerns about United States sanctions should in the first instance consult United States lawyers or regulatory authorities to ensure that they comply with applicable United States legislation.

Schools

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 30 June (WA 226) stating that they “do not hold a central record of all new schools built by local authorities to provide these places since 2010”, why they do not hold such a record; and, of the academy schools created and converted since 2010, (1) how many, and (2) what proportion, were identified for creation or conversion by local authorities.

Lord Nash: Prior to 2010 the Department for Education’s central records of new establishments do not allow us to determine if schools are new provision or whether they replace existing schools (i.e. due to an amalgamation or move from three tier to two tier education).
	Since then the number of schools that have applied to become academies is as follows:
	
		
			 Academic Year Number of Converter Academiesi 
			 2010/11 796 
			 2011/12 860 
			 2012/13 684 
			 2013/14 (to date) 522 
		
	
	i 
	Schools which have converted to academy status are not identified for conversion by the local authority. It is up to individual schools to apply to convert to become academies unless they are underperforming, in which case the department will look to match them with a sponsor.
	Between 2010 and 2012, local authorities held 41 competitions under section 7 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, as amended by the Education Act 2011, to create new schools. The numbers opening per academic year are:
	
		
			 Academic Year Number of Academies 
			 2010/11 16 
			 2011/12 7 
		
	
	
		
			 2012/13 12 
			 2013/14 6 
		
	
	In addition, the department also records all new academies created under local authorities’ duties to secure sufficient schools (section 14 of the Education Act 1996) since the academy presumption was established in February 2012. Ninety-two new academies have been created, or are in the process of being created, through this route (75 in agreement, 17 in the pipeline).
	These are broken down into academic years as follows:
	
		
			 Academic Year Number of Academies ii Number in pipeline (of the total number) 
			 2013/14 6 0 
			 2014/15 23 0 
			 2015/16 50 13 
			 2016/17 10 4 
			 2017/18 3 0 
		
	
	ii
	40 of these new academies were funded through the Government’s Targeted Basic Need Programme (8 due to open in September 2014, 32 due to open in September 2015).

Senior Civil Servants: Recruitment

Lord Butler of Brockwell: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the forthcoming General Election, they will consult the Opposition about the appointment of a Chief Executive of the Civil Service on a five year contract.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: As has been the case under successive administrations, external civil service appointments continue to be made in the usual way in accordance with the Civil Service Commission’s recruitment principles, through fair and open competition.

Serious Fraud Office

Lord Morris of Aberavon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how their supervision of the Serious Fraud Office is exercised; and what recent assessment they have made of the performance of the Office.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: The Government’s supervision of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is exercised principally through the Attorney-General’s superintendence of that department, and in accordance with the Protocol between the Attorney-General and the Prosecuting Departments of July 2009.
	The Attorney-General meets regularly with the Director of the SFO and receives reports on the SFO’s work. In addition HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate
	(HMCPSI) has power to inspect the SFO under section 149 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, which came into force on 2 June 2014.
	HMCPSI conducted an inspection of the SFO at the request of the Director SFO in 2012, and reported in November 2012. It has carried out a follow up inspection and is due to report on that later this year.

Students: Loans

Baroness Deech: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to initiate a review of the sustainability of the student loans system.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: There are no current plans to initiate a formal review of the student loans system in England. The costs of the loan system are based on projections of graduate repayments over the next 35 years. These projections were revised in 2013-14 following changes to the student loan repayments model but will continue to fluctuate due to numerous macroeconomic variables, and present no immediate pressure on the system. Funding for new student loans is secure for the remainder of the Spending Review period.

Students: Loans

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to improve the student loan system, should it prove to be too inefficient in its current format.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: There are no plans to initiate changes to the student loan system in England, but we continue to monitor the efficiency of the system in relation to government affordability.

Sugar

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 17 July (WA 144–5), whether the Minister will now provide a substantive answer to the question.

Earl Howe: The Secretary of State met with Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco on 7 October 2013 to discuss voluntary arrangements to help their customers’ adopt a healthier diet, including action to reduce their sugar intake. Other major retailers were unable to attend.
	In addition, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health (Jane Ellison) visited a Tesco store on 13 March 2014, with regard in particular to diabetes.

Supermarkets: Conditions of Employment

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of employment practices in the United Kingdom supermarket sector.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: We have not made any specific assessment of employment practices in this sector.

Tax Allowances

Lord Barnett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Newby on 9 July (HL Deb, cols 209–11), whether they intend to continue to encourage investments in (1) the alternative investment market, (2) start-up businesses, and (3) forestry, in the light of the tax relief available for such investments.

Lord Deighton: The government currently offers a range of tax reliefs to encourage investment. These form an important part of the government’s growth strategy and its commitment to make the UK one of the best places to start, finance and grow a business in Europe.
	To ensure the tax reliefs remain well-targeted, the reliefs are only available where certain conditions are met. The government keeps all these schemes under review to ensure that the reliefs continue to encourage investment in a well-targeted and effective manner.

Taxation: Immigrants

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the amount of income tax, value added tax and company taxation paid by migrants to the United Kingdom and by companies set up by migrants in each year since 2010 for which figures are available.

Lord Deighton: The information requested is not available.

Third Sector

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what they have learnt from promoting the Big Society.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what impact the promotion of the Big Society has had on competition between the social enterprise sector and local authorities; and what is the value of contracts transferred from the public sector to the independent sector since May 2010.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the experience of promoting the Big Society will inform their future policy making.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the delivery of Big Society initiatives will inform future pilot schemes to promote innovation in local communities.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what lessons for the localism agenda they have learnt from promoting the Big Society.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Big Society hands people control in their local communities so that they can take action to shape where they live and help others. Volunteering is up 6% since 2010 and 80,000 young people have taken part in National Citizen Service since 2011, contributing over 2 million hours of social action to their local communities.
	The Localism Act has resulted in over 1,200 assets of community value being listed and we have helped 150 organisations to acquire a community asset or obtain significant investment towards doing so. More than 900 neighbourhood planning areas have been designated, and all 28 plans which have reached referendum so far have passed with significant majorities in favour.
	This Government is committed to opening up public services so that social enterprises and voluntary organisations can play an increased role in delivering local services. We are introducing legislation that will require the public sector to publish details on the value of new contracts awarded to VCSEs, as part of Lord Young’s reforms to make public procurement more accessible to smaller businesses.

Turkey

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the freedom to worship of British Christian and Jewish visitors to Turkey.

Lord Popat: We regularly discuss issues concerning Freedom of Religion and Belief with the Turkish Government, religious leaders and non-governmental organisations in that country.
	We are encouraged by positive steps taken by the Turkish Government to improve protections for all religious minorities in Turkey. However, we share the assessment of the EU that more needs to be done to safeguard freedom of religion in Turkey.
	Freedom of religion is a fundamental freedom that all, including those visiting a country, are entitled to.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Northover on 23 June (WA 136) and 8 July (WA 40), why the request to place a document in the Library of the House was refused yet it was released under a Freedom of Information request.

Baroness Northover: The Offering Memorandum sent by the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) Government for a bond issue guaranteed by DFID in 2011 is not a document owned by her Majesty’s Government. It would therefore not have been appropriate for DFID to place a copy of it in the Library of the House, although my previous answer did make clear that the Noble Lord could obtain a copy of the document by requesting it from the TCI Government.
	Freedom of Information requests cover documents held by Her Majesty’s Government. DFID therefore sought the consent of the TCI Government before agreeing to release the TCI document.

UK Membership of EU

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 28 July (WA 273), what is their estimate of the impact of European Union membership on United Kingdom employment.

Lord Deighton: The Government has made no assessment of the impact of European Union membership on United Kingdom employment.
	As I noted in my response dated 28 July (WA 273) to Lord Grocott, the Treasury estimate that 3.3 million jobs in the UK may be related to exports to other European Union countries. This figure is based on the assumption that the share of UK employment associated with UK exports to the EU is equal to the share of output that is exported to the EU, making allowance for the composition of the UK economy.

Ukraine

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what medical assistance they are providing to military hospitals in Ukraine.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The UK Government is not providing direct medical assistance to military hospitals in Ukraine. Assistance to military hospitals cannot be recorded as Official Development Assistance (ODA), in line with Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development criteria.

UN Convention for Protection of Cultural Property in Event of Armed Conflict

Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 12 May (HL Deb, col 1650), when they expect there to be parliamentary time to introduce legislation to ratify the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict; and what assessment they have made of the damage to cultural property in the recent and continuing armed conflict in Syria and northern Iraq.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The legislative priorities for this session were set out in the Queen’s speech in June. The Government remains committed to protecting cultural heritage and we will seek to legislate on the 1954 Hague Convention and the subsequent protocols when parliamentary time allows. The 1954 convention already informs the Armed Forces’ law of armed conflict doctrine and training policy, particularly with regard to respect for cultural property, precautions in attack and recognition of the protective emblem.
	The Government is deeply concerned by reports of damage to cultural property in Syria and Northern Iraq, including recent attacks by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant against Mosques, Churches and other holy places. The reported destruction of the Tomb of Yonus (Jonah) in Mosul on 24 July by ISIL is further evidence of the groups barbarism and disregard for International Humanitarian Law. We are also concerned that Syria’s cultural heritage is being plundered for private profit. That is why in December 2013 the UK and other EU nations amended the EU’s sanctions regime to make clear that involvement in trade relating to artefacts illegally removed from Syria is prohibited. This will help safeguard Syria’s cultural heritage for the future and we will continue to do all we can to bring an end to the conflict and restore stability in the region.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Earl Attlee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the budget of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is provided by the United Kingdom; and what percentage of the staff of the UNHCR are United Kingdom citizens.

Baroness Northover: The UK provided 3% of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) budget in 2013. UNHCR records show that in April 2014 1.5% of UNHCR staff were UK citizens.

VAT

The Earl of Clancarty: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the current regulations with regard to the levying of value added tax on repairs and maintenance of old and listed buildings; and whether there are any plans to review or change such regulations.

Lord Deighton: Section 1 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 determines that value added tax should be charged on a supply of goods or services. Section 2 of the same Act sets the standard rate at 20%. Repairs and maintenance of all buildings fall into this standard rate.
	The Chancellor keeps all taxes under review.

War Graves

Lord Palmer of Childs Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions the Ministry of Defence has held with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission about erecting a named headstone to mark the grave of Private Walter George Buckley (PLY/18155) of the Royal Marines Light Infantry at Tournai Communal Cemetery Allied Extension.

Lord Astor of Hever: Subject to a positive identification being made, it is anticipated that a named headstone marking the grave of Private Buckley could be erected by the summer of next year.

Youth Engagement Fund

Baroness Whitaker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the number of young people from the gypsy and traveller communities not in education, training or employment, what steps they are taking to ensure that the Youth Engagement Fund will benefit people from those communities.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The £16m cross-government Youth Engagement Fund aims to support up to 18,000 of the most disadvantaged young people in England to improve their educational achievement, increase their employability and reduce their risk of offending. This includes young people from the gypsy and traveller communities. The Fund does not prescribe which particular groups of young people bidders should work with.

Albania

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what agreements have been signed, to which the United Kingdom and Albania are both parties, for the period 1 March 2013 to the present; and whether they will place copies of any such agreements in the Library of the House and on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office database.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) treaty database records all bilateral and multilateral treaties involving the United Kingdom signed since 1834. The FCO does not maintain a comprehensive central record or hold copies of the texts of memoranda of understanding concluded between Government Departments and other states or organizations.
	Legally-binding agreements to which both the UK and Albania have become parties since 1 March 2013 are as follows:
	Bilateral:
	1. The Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital was signed on 26 March 2014 and was published as UK Treaty Series No. 3, 2014.
	Multilateral:
	2. The Arms Trade Treaty was signed by Albania on 3 June 2013 and by the United Kingdom on 3 June 2013. This was published as UK Miscellaneous Series No. 3, 2013.
	3. Protocol No.15 amending the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms [CETS No.213] was signed by Albania on 11 February 2014 and by the United Kingdom on 24 June 2014. The text to this treaty is published on the Council of Europe website.
	All treaties, including those amending previous treaties, that are subject to ratification, accession, approval or completion of procedures are laid before both Houses of Parliament as a Command Paper for twenty-one sitting days in accordance with Part 2 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. Those treaties which enter into force on signature do not have to be laid before Parliament for twenty-one sitting days but are laid before both Houses of Parliament as a Command Paper in the UK Treaty Series once they have entered into force.

Association of British Insurers

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish details of all meetings between ministers and the Association of British Insurers in the past 12 months.

Lord Deighton: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings and discussions with a wide variety of organisations as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Lists of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on gov.uk[1].
	[1]
	https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-treasury/ series/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Autism

Baroness Uddin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many and what proportion of people in assessment and treatment units are known to have autism spectrum disorder; and of those, how many are children.

Earl Howe: The Learning Disabilities Census conducted by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) indicates that 3,250 learning disabilities services users were in hospital in England at midnight on 30 September 2013. This includes 1,087 (33.4%) with autistic spectrum disorder (including Asperger’s Syndrome). Autistic spectrum disorder (including Asperger’s Syndrome) was the main reason for the hospital admission of 321 (9.9%) learning disabilities service users.
	The HSCIC has also reported that the Learning Disabilities Census 2013 indicated that 185 of those in hospital (representing 5.7% of all learning disabilities service users) were under 18 years of age. Of these, 88 have autistic spectrum disorder (including Asperger’s Syndrome). Autistic spectrum disorder (including Asperger’s Syndrome) was the main reason for the hospital admission of 28 people under the age of 18 years.

Borders: Personal Records

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they expect to introduce universal exit checks at United Kingdom borders by the end of the current Parliament; and, if so, what the scheme will cost, how many additional members of staff will be required to perform the checks, and whether, operationally, United Kingdom infrastructure is suitably robust to meet the additional demand.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Home Office is on track to meet the Coalition Agreement commitment to introduce exit checks by April 2015 on those who leave the UK by scheduled commercial air, sea and rail services. We are working with service and port operators to minimise the impact of exit checks on port processes and infrastructure. The level of cost will be largely dependent on the technology and methodology adopted and the extent to which advanced passenger data is collected and used by individual carriers.

Bread: Pesticides

Lord Swinfen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce the amount of pesticides in bread.

Lord De Mauley: The regulatory framework for pesticides is supported by a substantial programme of testing for residues in food and drink. This is administered by the Health and Safety Executive’s Chemicals Regulation Directorate and overseen by the independent expert scientific committee on Pesticide Residues in Food (PRiF). Bread is among the staple foods regularly checked.
	Statutory Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) for pesticides are set under European Union (EU) legislation. These MRLs reflect the highest amount of pesticide residue expected in food when pesticides are applied in accordance with authorised conditions of use. MRLs are always set below, usually far below, the safety limit.
	Farmers, importers, distributors and retailers are responsible for ensuring marketed food complies with the statutory levels.
	Although recent monitoring results indicate an increase in the incidence of pesticide residues being found in bread, this reflects that improvements in analytical methods mean that residues can be found at lower levels. The latest results obtained are all at levels below the statutory MRLs, and PriF have concluded that they do not raise any safety concerns.
	The Food Standards Agency recognises that consumers want pesticide residues reduced further than the current safe levels. As part of the Agency's action plan to minimise pesticide residues in food, guides have been produced for five crops – including cereals - grown in the UK. The guides are intended for a broad audience within the food industry, from farmer to retailer. They aim to raise awareness of the issue of pesticide residues and to support the industry to deliver existing pesticide residue minimisation initiatives.

British Petroleum

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to the judgments of courts in the United States which have recently awarded significant damages against BP; and what discussions they have had with the government of the United States about the issue.

Baroness Northover: The British Government has taken a close interest in the regulatory and legal action in the US against BP following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 and has discussed this issue with the US authorities on several occasions. It remains concerned that BP, like all British companies, should receive fair and equitable treatment at the same time as dealing fairly with the consequences of the spill. The Government’s support for BP’s activities in the US has included submitting an amicus brief before the Southern Texas District Court on 2 December 2013 in support of BP in its case regarding its disbarment from US government contracts by the US Environmental Protection Agency – a bar which has since been lifted.

Burma

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 24 July (HL Deb, cols 1324–8) to the debate on Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, what representations they have made to the Burmese authorities about proposed new legislation to restrict religious conversions and inter-religious marriages there; and whether they will call on the United Nations Secretary-General to visit Burma to address religious intolerance and to encourage the creation of an international and independent inquiry into violence in Rakhine State, Kachin State and other parts of the country.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We have voiced our strong concerns over proposed legislation on inter-faith marriage and religious conversion to members of the Burmese government and parliamentarians. If enacted, these laws would harm religious tolerance and respect for diversity in Burma, and contravene international standards and treaties to which Burma is a signatory. Most recently, our Ambassador raised our concerns with Minister of the President’s Office, U Soe Thein, in June.
	The UN Secretary-General (UNSG) currently chairs the Partnership Group on Burma, which last met in April. The UNSG and his Special Representative to Burma, Vijay Nambiar, both play vital roles in raising the international community’s human rights concerns with the Burmese government whilst providing encouragement for the wider reform process. We welcome
	the recent visit by the newly appointed UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Burma, Ms Yanghee Lee, who rightly highlighted that the government needs to do more to stop the spread of hate speech and incitement to violence based on religious grounds and recommended the adoption of specific legislation to address this.
	We remain deeply concerned by continued violence in Burma, particularly in Rakhine State and Kachin State. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations, and to prevent their further escalation, irrespective of whether these violations fit the definition of specific international crimes. Allegations of human rights abuses must be dealt with through a clear, independent and transparent investigative and prosecutorial process that meets international standards. We have made this clear to the Burmese government and will continue to do so. We continue to believe an independent investigation, supported by appropriate technical assistance, would make a significant contribution to accountability and reconciliation.

Cabinet

Lord Rogan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the meeting of the Cabinet in Aberdeen on 24 February, whether they have any plans to hold Cabinet meetings in Wales and Northern Ireland.

Baroness Northover: It has been a long-standing practice of successive governments not to disclose in advance the location of Cabinet meetings. However the Noble Peer will recall that Cabinet was last held in Cardiff in July 2011.

Cancer

Baroness Howe of Idlicote: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the results of the cancer patient experience survey will be used to hold Clinical Commissioning Groups to account for improvements in patient experience through the NHS Outcomes Framework.

Earl Howe: Holding clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to account for delivering improved outcomes for patients is a core part of the CCG assurance process. NHS England is working with NHS Improving Quality to develop better ways of using the Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES) data within the National Health Service in order to maximise the impact of the survey, to be able to work with successful and struggling organisations to spread best practice for example. Their intention is that the learning from this can then be transferred across all surveys to understand what the barriers are to implementing change and to showcase best practice where real improvements can be demonstrated.
	The CPES survey results are delivered to every organisation so each can see how they compare to other organisations. Currently, the action plans are taken into account as part of Peer Reviews. NHS England would expect that every trust board should know its own survey results and take account of them.
	We have been working closely with NHS England on the review of the NHS Outcomes Framework, and will be engaging with stakeholders over the summer ahead of publication in the autumn.

Cancer

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of variations in cancer patient experiences.

Earl Howe: The latest Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES) results, from 2013, show that whilst variations between trusts still exist, the overall range of variation for many indicators has narrowed.
	For example, in 2010 the proportion of patients saying that they had been given the name of a Clinical Nurse Specialist ranged from 92% in the highest performing trust to 59% in the poorest performing trust (33 points); by 2013 this had reduced to 97% to 76% (21 points).
	NHS England is working with NHS Improving Quality to develop better ways of using CPES data within the National Health Service in order to maximise the impact of the survey, to be able to work with successful and struggling organisations to spread best practice for example. Their intention is that the learning from this can then be transferred across all surveys to understand what the barriers are to implementing change and to showcase best practice where real improvements can be demonstrated.

Chernobyl: Children

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have assisted in any schemes offering holidays in the United Kingdom to children affected by the Chernobyl disaster; and if not, whether they have been asked to, or plan to.

Baroness Northover: Up until 2013 children affected by the Chernobyl disaster travelling to the UK on recuperation visits under the auspices of a registered UK charity were granted gratis UK visas. The decision to discontinue the scheme was one of a number of difficult spending decisions across Government. The Visa Application Centre in Minsk will continue to offer a mobile service for some of the children travelling with Chernobyl charities spending a number of days accepting applications and collecting Biometric data in the regions at no additional cost.
	Our Embassy in Minsk has funded other projects run by Chernobyl Children’s charities in 2013 and 2014. These include projects to avoid such children being placed in institutional care and creating a better child protection system in Belarus.

Children: Day Care

Lord Sutherland of Houndwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 28 July (WA 247), in addition to the “qualitative assessment of the economic impacts” of the Childcare Payments Bill provided in the impact assessment, what specific estimates they have made of the impact on the maternal labour supply and productivity.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 28 July (WA 247), in addition to the “qualitative assessment of the economic impacts” of the Childcare Payments Bill provided in the impact assessment, what specific estimates they have made of the impact on tax receipts from mothers paying income tax and national insurance.

Lord Deighton: Details of the estimated economic effects from the introduction of Tax-Free Childcare can be found in the Childcare Payments Bill Impact Assessment.[1]
	[1]
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/ attachment_data/file/318698/document2014-06-10-104244-1.pdf

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many contracts for the provision of services have been entered into by each of the Clinical Commissioning Groups in England since their formation; of those, how many have been contracted with (1) a National Health Service trust, (2) a commercial body, and (3) a charitable or other non-profit-making body; and what is the total commercial value for each of those categories.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what contracts have been entered into for the provision of services by the East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group, and in each case with which body; and what are the services to be provided and the value of each contract.

Earl Howe: The Department does not collect information on which providers have been awarded contracts at local level.
	It is for local commissioners to decide how best to secure local services and take a decision on which are the most capable providers to deliver those services in the best interests of their patients. There is no requirement for commissioners to put all services out to competitive tender.
	Whether NHS services are provided by the public, voluntary or private sector, they remain publicly funded and free at the point of delivery with access based on clinical need.

Compulsorily Detained Mental Patients

Baroness Uddin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people were sectioned under the Mental Health Acts in each year of the last decade, disaggregated by racial profile; how many of those people had a co-occurring learning disability or autism spectrum disorder; and how many were children.

Earl Howe: We do not centrally hold the number of people with a learning disability or autism spectrum disorder who were formally detained under Mental Health Act 1983 in each year of the last decade, disaggregated by racial profile, including the numbers of which were children.
	The information we do hold has been placed in the Library.

Dental Services: Children

Baroness Gardner of Parkes: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the cost to the National Health Service in the last year of the number of children being hospitalised for the extensive extraction of deciduous teeth; and whether they will consider setting up day-care clinics that could carry out such work.

Earl Howe: The following table shows the estimated cost of tooth extractions for children aged 18 years and under for 2012-13. The data covers all tooth extractions, and does not distinguish between deciduous or adult teeth.
	
		
			 Healthcare Resource Group description Estimated total cost £ million 
			 Minor Extraction of Tooth, 18 years and under 3.1 
			 Extraction of Multiple Teeth, 18 years and under 27.4 
		
	
	Source: Reference costs, Department of Health1
	Tooth extractions in children often involve general anaesthesia. Extractions involving general anaesthesia were restricted to the hospital setting following the recommendations of the 2000 report ‘A conscious decision’ that patients should have access to high quality critical care facilities when general anaesthesia is given. There are currently no plans to change this. Many extractions are carried out on a day case basis; whether the extraction is carried out as a day case or requires an overnight admission is a matter for the clinicians involved.
	70% of five year olds now have no dental decay but we recognise that significant inequalities remain. Wider work is under way through dental contract reform and other prevention focussed initiatives to improve oral health.
	Note:
	1
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-reference-costs-2012-to-2013

Derelict Land

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure there is clear and transparent information about the availability of brownfield land for development.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The National Land Use Database is available online and provides statistical information for national and local authority trends in previously developed (brownfield) land.
	The newly updated Local Government Transparency Code will require local authorities to publish details of all land and building assets annually, helping increase accountability over the use of council assets and the scope for disposing of surplus brownfield land for regeneration and new homes.
	The Government is releasing for development its own surplus and redundant land and property. As part of this comprehensive programme, the Government Property Unit has recently launched a new application on Gov.uk, which can be accessed by the public and developers, which provides details of all government land and property assets.
	To help meet the Government’s ambitions to have planning permission for housing in place on 90% of suitable brownfield sites by 2020, we are currently considering how we can further improve the published information that is available on brownfield land suitable for housing. We will report on this in due course.
	The associated website links are as follows:
	National Land Use Database:
	http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/datasetList.do?JSAllowed=true& Function=&%24ph=60&CurrentPageId=60&step =1&CurrentTreeIndex=-2&searchString=land+use& datasetFamilyId=1235&Next.x=14&Next.y=2&nsjs= true&nsck=false&nssvg=false&nswid=1366
	Local Government Transparency Code:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/308185/Local_ Government_Transparency_Code_2014_Final.pdf
	Find government property:
	https://www.gov.uk/find-government-property

Developing Countries: Education

Lord Verjee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the publication of the Ministry of Defence's Global Strategic Trends out to 2045, what consideration they have given to educational inequalities in the developing world; and how the United Kingdom can aid the closing of gender gaps in educational access and attainment.

Baroness Northover: The UK is supporting disaggregation of data by sex and age in the Post 2015 development framework which will succeed the Millennium Development Goals. This will help ensure no-one is left behind, including girls in Education. The UK International Development Gender Equality Act which was passed in May 2014 now makes it law to consider, before providing development assistance, how the assistance will contribute to reducing gender inequality.
	Supporting gender equality in education remains a key priority for the UK government and we are increasingly focussing on marginalised girls both in terms of access and attainment. For example, the Girls Education Challenge funded by UK aid is the largest donor funded education programme which aims to support up to one million marginalised girls to be in school and learning which will help to transform their lives.

Diego Garcia

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 28 July (WA 249), whether they will now answer the question as tabled.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The United States is our most important bilateral ally and we have regular discussions on a range of sensitive issues. It is our longstanding position not to comment on discussions of that nature. With regard to Mr Belhaj allegedly stopping over in Diego Garcia, I refer the noble Lord to the response given by my noble friend, the former Senior Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Baroness Warsi), on 17 June 2014, Official Report, Column WA36, that, aside from the two cases of rendition through Diego Garcia (British Indian Ocean Territory) in 2002, there have been no other instances in which US intelligence flights landed in the UK, our Overseas Territories, or the Crown Dependencies, with a detainee on board since 11 September 2001.

Electoral Register

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice they give to electoral registration and returning officers regarding applications they receive from individuals who apply to register to vote but do not know, or have not been issued with, their National Insurance number and do not include such details as part of their application.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Ministerial Guidance to Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) on this topic was published in September 2013 on the Cabinet Office website and in Electoral Commission guidance to EROs.
	This information is available in the Library.
	Applicants registering to vote who are unable to provide a National Insurance Number must state the reason on their submission. If they do not know their National Insurance Number they will be advised by EROs of locations, such as payslips, where they can find this information. Applicants who do not have a National Insurance Number must provide documentary evidence of their identity, such as a UK passport, before their request can be determined.

Employment Schemes: Learning Disability

Baroness Uddin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to expand community-based support to accommodate people with learning disabilities placed in hospital in a way that supports skills and work readiness, and is overseen by trained professionals.

Earl Howe: We expect everyone in an inpatient setting to have a care plan, including, where appropriate, a discharge plan for them to move to community-based support. The assessment of people’s needs should include their health and care needs as well as other issues including their ability to benefit from education, training and employment.
	The Department of Health and the Department for Work and Pensions are working closely to ensure that everyone with a learning disability, including those in a hospital setting, get appropriate support to fulfil their potential. We have already held several seminars aimed at those with a lived experience of learning disability to understand both the barriers to work and what might help. A further seminar is being hosted by British Institute for Learning Disability in September. Outcomes from these seminars will contribute to the development of a plan to improve support towards employment.

Energy: Meters

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the use of prepayment meters on the ability of lower income households to pay their energy bills.

Baroness Northover: Since 2010, all major suppliers have voluntarily equalised tariffs between prepayment customers and standard credit customers but the price differential between customers using pre-payment meters (PPM) and those paying by direct debit can be more than £100 for a dual-fuel customer.
	Whilst paying by PPM is more common among fuel poor than non-fuel poor households, a majority of fuel poor customer pay by other payment methods.
	Of households who were fuel poor in England in 2012, around 27% paid for their electricity and 22% paid for their gas through PPM.

Energy: Meters

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to encourage the six major energy companies to adhere to the five principles on the use of prepayment meters which were agreed with Consumer Focus in March 2011.

Baroness Northover: In July 2012, Consumer Focus released a report, ‘Making Progress’ which found that suppliers have all made changes to their policies and processes following their agreement to the 5 Key Principles that Consumer Focus set out in March 2011.
	We know that issues relating to prepayment meters (PPM) remain of broad concern for consumers. The roll out of smart metering should greatly improve the customer experience for prepayment customers. In April 2014, the Secretary of State wrote to suppliers challenging them to ensure that from the end of 2016 current ‘normal’ PPM are replaced only with Smart Meters and offer Smart Meters with ‘pay as you go tariff’ options to all PPM customers by the end of 2016. We will continue to work with suppliers and stakeholders to ensure that PPM customers can benefit from smart meter roll out as soon as possible.

Forced Labour

The Lord Bishop of Derby: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many audits of supply chains have been undertaken to ensure that public bodies and publicly-funded projects are not using forced labour through their supply chains.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what auditing steps they have taken since 2010 to ensure that public bodies and publicly-funded projects are not using forced or trafficked labour in their own supply chains.

Baroness Northover: We do not hold central information on the number of audits commissioned or auditing steps taken regarding publically funded projects, as these would be a matter for individual contracting authorities to commission.
	All suppliers are required to comply with UK law, including relevant human rights and employment rights law. Social, environmental and ethical issues are taken into account in the procurement process, where relevant and proportionate.
	In particular, EU procurement rules require contracting authorities to exclude suppliers that have been convicted of certain offences, and allow authorities to exclude suppliers for grave professional misconduct. The new EU procurement Directives, which are currently being transposed into UK law, update the mandatory exclusion offences to explicitly include offences of “trafficking in human beings”.

Gambling: Internet

Lord Mancroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how a business is to determine whether its activity will be classed as “manufacture”, “supply”, “installation” or “adaption”, pursuant to section 41 of the Gambling Act 2014, and therefore require a licence; and whether they have plans to supplement the guidance provided by the Gambling Commission on the matter.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the meaning of "adaption" with regard to section 41 of the Gambling Act 2014 in respect of software licensing requirements.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will encourage the Gambling Commission to give guidance in relation to its software licensing criteria within the Gambling Act 2014.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government why, in the light of the requirements for licensing of software developers and suppliers under the gambling licensing regimes in other European Union member states, they have opted to increase the scope of businesses that require licensing in the United Kingdom.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government why software developers and other companies involved in gambling software, working as sub-contractors for newly-licensed software suppliers, have to apply for their own licences; and what assessment they have made of the impact of that requirement on smaller businesses reliant on such short-term contracts.

Baroness Northover: The Gambling Commission’s publication ‘What is gambling software?’ (June 2014) provides advice to assist the industry in understanding who needs a gambling software licence. This covers what constitutes the activities of manufacturing, supplying, installing and adapting gambling software, considers circumstances where multiple parties are involved in the development process and who needs a licence. The guide can be found at the following link:
	http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/pdf/What is gambling software - June 2014.pdf
	The requirement to obtain gambling software from Gambling Commission-licensed providers is an important provision both to ensure the integrity of gambling software and to keep crime out of gambling, and ensures a consistent approach for remote gambling operators based in Britain and overseas. This requirement is set out in the Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice and was subject to statutory consultation this year.

Gambling: Internet

Lord Mancroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether live dealer studios holding current European Economic Area and White-list authorisation for the services they provide to those offering live dealer games in the British market will be eligible for a continuation licence under the provisions of the Gambling Act 2014.

Baroness Northover: Yes, subject to meeting the criteria set out in Statutory Instrument (2014 Nos. 1675 and 1641), live dealer studios in the European Economic Area and White-list states currently permitted to operate in Britain are eligible.

Gastrointestinal Cancer

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to support research into paediatric, adolescent, wild-type and syndromic gastrointestinal stromal tumour cancer.

Earl Howe: The Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST). These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and the National Health Service, value for money and scientific quality.
	NIHR research infrastructure including NIHR biomedical research centres and the NIHR Clinical Research Network are hosting studies in GIST including a phase I/II study of sunitinib in young patients with advanced GIST.

Gastrointestinal Cancer

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to improve diagnosis and treatment of paediatric, adolescent, wild-type and syndromic gastrointestinal stromal tumour cancer.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in giving paediatric, adolescent, wild-type and syndromic gastrointestinal stromal tumour cancer specialised commissioning status.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government which National Clinical Director has responsibility for paediatric, adolescent, wild-type and syndromic gastrointestinal stromal tumour cancer patients.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to establish a specialist paediatric, adolescent, wild-type and syndromic gastrointestinal stromal tumour cancer clinic in the United Kingdom.

Earl Howe: Measures to ensure early diagnosis of cancer, including rare cancers, are discussed monthly by the Public Awareness and Primary Care Steering Group. The group is chaired by Sean Duffy, NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Cancer, and includes members representing Public Health England, Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support and Departmental officials and other stakeholders.
	As rare cancers, paediatric, adolescent, wild-type and syndromic gastrointestinal stromal tumours (PAWS GIST) are covered by the 2013-14 NHS standard contract for paediatric oncology which was developed
	by the Specialised Service Children’s Cancer Clinical Reference Group (CRG) and can be found at the following address:
	www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/e04-paedi-oncol.pdf
	NHS England has no plans to establish a specialist PAWS GIST clinic, as treatment is currently provided through paediatric oncology services.
	GIST Support UK have in partnership with Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, established a PAWS GIST clinic that is led by Dr Ramesh Bulusu working with a UK national alliance of doctors.
	Dr Jacqueline Cornish, National Clinical Director for Children, Young People and Transition to Adulthood, NHS England has responsibility for PAWS GIST.

General Practitioners

Baroness Browning: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what categories of Quality and Outcomes Framework payments are available to general practitioner practices.

Earl Howe: The national Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) is a voluntary incentive scheme that provides additional reward to general practitioner (GP) practices for how well they care for patients based on performance against a number of agreed indicators. Each indicator is worth a maximum number of points and GP practices are then rewarded financially on the number of points they achieve. All GP practices can choose to take part in QOF and the majority choose to do so.
	NHS Employers publish detailed guidance on the QOF. A copy of this guidance has been placed in the Library.

Golf: Females

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to golf clubs which host national and international events in the United Kingdom about the continuing discrimination against women.

Baroness Northover: Last year, the Secretary of State at the time did not attend the Open golf championship at Muirfield in Scotland to highlight their policy on not allowing women members. Prior to this, in 2011, the Minister for Sport at the time, spoke with the Royal and Ancient about the matter of hosting the tournament at clubs that do not allow women members and stressed that he thought that clubs with such rules need to change this policy.
	The Open Championship does not receive any financial support from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Ultimately the decision of where to hold the Championship is one for the Royal and Ancient.
	It is not unlawful for clubs to restrict membership to men or to women only. It is a matter for single-sex clubs to decide whether they wish to change the membership criteria to extend to men and women. There are, however, provisions in the Equality Act 2010 which mean that where private clubs, including golf or other sports clubs, allow both men and women to become members, they must treat them equally regardless of their sex.

Housing

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the amount of floor space provided in newly built houses and flats in relation to average household needs in the United Kingdom.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The floor space in newly built homes varies by dwelling type. As part of the Impact Assessment supporting last year's Housing Standards Review consultation, EC Harris estimated that typical private newly built houses were of the following size;
	2 bedroom apartment 67m
	2
	2 bedroom house 72m
	2
	3 bedroom house 92m
	2
	4 bedroom house 117m
	2
	The Government will be consulting shortly on more detailed proposals for a National Space Standard which will be available for local authorities to adopt in planning policies and this will be followed by an Impact Assessment including further analysis on the size of recently built homes.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

The Lord Bishop of Derby: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to increase the availability of suitable housing for housing benefit claimants eligible for the under-occupancy charge who are willing but unable to move to smaller accommodation due to a lack of social housing available.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The 2015-18 Affordable Housing Programme encourages housing providers to build social homes of sizes that match local household needs. Of the successful bids so far, 77% have been for 1 and 2 bedroom homes. This will make more housing available for households in social housing who wish to downsize.
	The Government has also taken steps to support mobility among tenants in the social rented sector. Our social housing reforms have given councils and social landlords much more flexibility in the allocation
	of housing. Our statutory guidance on social housing allocations encourages local authorities to prioritise under-occupying tenants wishing to move, and to consider whether there are provisions in their allocation scheme that might make it difficult for under-occupiers to move. In February, we issued a guide to help landlords facilitate mutual exchanges; the guide highlights various steps landlords can take to make mutual exchange a more attractive and viable proposition for tenants. The introduction of the national
	HomeSwap
	Direct scheme has made it easier for tenants wanting to move to find a suitable property. Since its launch in October 2011, tenants have carried out over 18 million searches of the property data held on
	HomeSwap
	Direct. The Government has also made clear its intention to introduce a Right to Move for social tenants who need to move to take up a job or be closer to work – we intend to consult soon on proposals.
	In addition, many social landlords (both housing associations and councils) are helping affected tenants to move to more suitable accommodation by holding “mutual exchange fairs” (where tenants who want to downsize can meet with tenants who want a larger property), running transfer incentive schemes, and repairing properties which are being swapped through mutual exchange.

Human Trafficking

The Lord Bishop of Derby: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many individuals on domestic worker visas have sought assistance as victims of human trafficking through the National Referral Mechanism.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many individuals on domestic worker visas have been identified as victims of human trafficking offences in each year since 2010.

Baroness Northover: The Home Office does not collect the information that has been requested. However, domestic workers who are abused or exploited, regardless of their immigration status, can receive care and support in the UK.

Iraq

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 24 July (HL Deb, cols 1324–8) to the debate on Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, what assistance has been given to Christians who have been forced to leave their homes in Mosul; whether they have any plans to offer asylum to those affected; and what representations they have made to governments in the Gulf in respect of the funding of ISIS.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK condemns the human rights abuses reported in Iraq and has committed £5 million to the humanitarian effort to support people displaced by fighting there. All asylum claims made in the UK are carefully considered in accordance with the UK’s obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights. The Home Office, which is responsible for all asylum claims, closely monitors developments in Iraq and other countries of return and will take decisions on a case-by-case basis in the light of the latest available country information. We regularly discuss terrorist financing with governments in the Gulf including through the mechanisms of the Financial Action Task Force.

Iraq

Baroness Berridge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have met the administration of Kurdish-controlled Iraq since ISIS took control of other Iraqi regions; and in particular whether they have discussed the situation of Iraqi Christian refugees.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), met the President and Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq on 27 June, and our Consul General in Erbil regularly meets the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and others to discuss the humanitarian crisis and assistance to displaced persons including Christians from Mosul. Most recently the Consul General met the Head of the KRG’s Department for Foreign Relations on 6 August to discuss the specific needs of Christians and other minority groups including Yezidis fleeing from Sinjar. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials meet regularly with the KRG representation to the UK, and have done so several times since the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) attacks on Mosul and other parts of Iraq in mid June 2014.

Israel

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the value of United Kingdom arms sales to Israel in the last 12 months, including cryptographic equipment; and what assessment they have made of the use of such arms for internal repression or external aggression.

Lord Livingston of Parkhead: In general the Department holds information only about the value of goods licensed for export, not about the value of sales.
	In 2013, the UK granted a total of 178 Standard Individual Export Licences (SIELs) for military-rated goods with a value of £10,011,169.
	Cryptographic equipment and software are dual-use items and the vast majority are for civil end use – they are not arms. In 2013 we granted 88 SIELs for cryptographic equipment, software, and related components. The vast majority of the value of these related to one licence, for electronic components and circuit boards which are specifically designed for building mobile phone networks for public use. They do not meet military specifications and they are not suitable for building military communications equipment. The end-user is a commercial stockist and distributor of electronic components and equipment. Given the nature of the equipment and intended end-use we do not have any concerns that the goods might be diverted for military end-use.
	All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria in light of the prevailing circumstances. The Government announced the findings of its review of licensed exports to Israel on 12 August.

Israel

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will take action to place an arms embargo on Israel.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK aims to have one of the most rigorous and transparent export licence regimes in the world with strict criteria governing the provision of licences. On 11 August the British Government announced the findings of its review of licensed exports to Israel. It found that the vast majority of exports currently licensed for Israel are not for items that could be used by Israeli forces in operations in Gaza in response to attacks by Hamas.
	However, twelve licences were identified for components which could be part of equipment used by the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza. Currently there is a ceasefire in place and the Government continues to urge both sides to respect this and to secure a lasting end to hostilities through the negotiations taking place in Cairo. However, in the event of a resumption of significant hostilities, the Government is concerned that it would not be able to clarify if the export licence criteria were being met. It would therefore suspend these licences as a precautionary step.

Lasers

Lord Brabazon of Tara: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they propose to take in respect of the import, mainly through the internet, of laser pointers above classes 1 and 2, in the light of the study “‘Toy’ Laser Macular Burns in Children”, published in Eye, the scientific journal of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, in January; and what assessment they have made of the impact of such lasers being pointed at aircraft pilots, train drivers and motorists.

Earl Howe: Public Health England (PHE) and its predecessor organisations first issued advice on these matters to the then Department for Trade and Industry in October 1997 suggesting that laser products on general sale to the public should be limited to Class 1 or Class 2. This advice is still relevant. Trading Standards Officers use existing powers under the General Product Safety Regulations to take enforcement action against traders in the United Kingdom supplying high-power laser products, which are usually Class 3B or Class 4.
	Following the publication of the paper in the journal Eye, PHE organised a workshop on 20 June 2014. This brought together two of the authors of the paper and stakeholders from across Government, the police and experts on the health implications of exposure to laser beams. PHE agrees with the journal article that it is important parents are aware of the risks of laser products to their children. It was felt that the most appropriate course of action was a campaign to increase awareness of the risks associated with the use of these lasers, including the likelihood that the power in the laser beam could be significantly higher than stated. PHE is now preparing additional material to inform the public.
	The ability to impair the vision of a pilot or a vehicle driver depends on the colour of the laser beam, the ambient light conditions and the task being undertaken. Although Class 1 or Class 2 lasers are unlikely to impair the vision of a pilot, under specific conditions, they can cause distraction, glare and afterimages to drivers targeted at close range. Therefore, any inappropriate use of a laser, irrespective of the laser classification, should be taken seriously.

Meat: Antibiotics

Lord Swinfen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce the amount of antibiotics in meat and meat products.

Lord De Mauley: Any veterinary antibiotic authorised for use in the UK in a food producing species will have a withdrawal period set as part of the condition of use. This is the minimum length of time after treatment that must pass before produce from the treated animal can enter the food chain. The withdrawal period ensures that the concentration of any residue of the medicine falls below the maximum residue level – the statutory safety limit.
	In addition, the use of antibiotics as growth promoters has been banned in Europe since 2006.
	Using antibiotics responsibly is a requirement of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Code of Professional Conduct for Vets which states “Veterinary surgeons must be seen to ensure that when using antimicrobials they do so responsibly, and be accountable for the choices made in such use.”

Mesothelioma

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much was spent on mesothelioma research in 2013 and 2014.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much funding has been designated for mesothelioma research in 2014 and 2015.

Earl Howe: In 2013-14, the Medical Research Council (MRC) spent £1.7 million on mesothelioma research, and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) spent £0.4 million on this topic through its research programmes, research centres and units, and research fellowships. Total spend by the NIHR on mesothelioma research is higher than this because expenditure by the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) on this topic cannot be disaggregated from total CRN expenditure.
	The amount of funding designated for mesothelioma research in 2014 and 2015 is not available. The usual practice of the NIHR and MRC is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics; research proposals in all areas can be considered for the funding available.
	The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including mesothelioma. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. In all disease areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity. The NIHR has highlighted to the research community that it wants to encourage research applications in mesothelioma and we hope this will lead to an increased level of research activity.

Middle East

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to initiate dialogues, whether under their own auspices or those of other neutral states, between Israelis and Palestinians, along the lines suggested by Mr David Grossman in the International New York Times of 29 July.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Government currently supports a range of projects in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories which involve both Israeli and Palestinian implementing partners. Whilst the projects currently being funded do not necessarily have a specific objective of bringing Israelis and Palestinians together, or constitute ‘joint’ projects as such, much of the work our implementers do involve Israelis and Palestinians working together.
	Our Conflict Prevention programme includes a focus on supporting and strengthening constituencies for peace. This includes support to train Palestinian doctors in Israeli hospitals; fostering people-to-people relations between the two communities, promoting coexistence and confidence building, whilst building the capabilities of the Palestinian healthcare system.

Middle East

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about the bombardment of Gaza.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv are holding regular discussions with the Government of Israel about the current Gaza crisis. On 29 July the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), called for an unconditional, immediate, humanitarian ceasefire.

Middle East

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of allegations that the Israeli Defence Force’s Operation Protective Edge has deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Government has not made any assessment of the allegations that the Israeli Defence Forces have deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure. We have however made clear both in our public statements and diplomatic representations that whilst Israel had a right to self-defence, any response must be proportionate and maximum efforts made to avoid civilian casualties.

Middle East

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they will take to secure an independent international investigation of the level of civilian deaths and casualties in Gaza arising from Israel's military intervention in that territory to establish whether breaches of international law have occurred.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Government has not made any plans to take action to secure an independent international investigation into the Gaza crisis. The time to carry out any actions on this issue is in the future, once the situation in Gaza has de-escalated.

Middle East

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take internationally to require Israel to lift the blockade of Gaza.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: In order to secure a lasting ceasefire, it will be vital to address the underlying causes of the conflict, including easing access restrictions to open up the economy of Gaza, whilst addressing Israel’s legitimate security concerns. There cannot simply be a return to the status quo ante. The UK will work with international partners, including the EU and the UN, to support this goal.

Ministers: Conduct

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is their policy that ministers speaking from the despatch box in their capacity as ministers should not express personal opinions in conflict with Government policy; if so, how that policy is enforced; and, if not, whether they intend to introduce such a policy.

Baroness Northover: The Ministerial Code provides guidance to Ministers on their accountability to Parliament.

Multiple Sclerosis

Baroness Gardner of Parkes: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Cladribine is available for people with multiple sclerosis through the National Health Service; and, if not, what steps they are taking to make it available.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of research in other countries into the use of Cladribine to treat multiple sclerosis; and what such research has been carried out in the United Kingdom for the National Health Service.

Earl Howe: Cladribine is not licensed for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.
	Prescribers can prescribe a medicine “off label” for unlicensed indications if they consider it to be of benefit to the patient and on condition that they retain full clinical responsibility for that patient.
	The National Institute for Health Research Horizon Scanning Centre published a report on cladribine for multiple sclerosis in 2008 and this is available at:
	www.hsc.nihr.ac.uk/topics/cladribine-movectro-for-multiple-sclerosis-relapsi
	We have made no assessment of research undertaken in other countries.

National Lottery

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much lottery money has been spent on sports and recreation each year since the establishment of the National Lottery; how much they anticipate will be spent in 2015, 2016, and 2017; and how much of that funding has been allocated for each Olympic and Paralympic sport.

Baroness Northover: The amounts of National Lottery money drawn down by the Lottery sports distributors for spending on the sports good cause were as follows:
	1994/95 - £1.8 million
	1995/96 - £40.1 million
	1996/97 - £181.6 million
	1997/98 - £188.3 million
	1998/99 - £397.4 million
	1999/00 - £316.7 million
	2000/01 - £292.5 million
	2001/02 - £359.2 million
	2002/03 - £377.5 million
	2003/04 - £315.5 million
	2004/05 - £241.6 million
	2005/06 - £264.1 million
	2006/07 - £208.8 million
	2007/08 - £216.1 million
	2008/09 - £230.5 million
	2009/10 - £216.6 million
	2010/11 - £224.0 million
	2011/12 - £302.5 million
	2012/13 - £271.6 million
	2013/14 - £358.2 million
	In addition, the Big Lottery Fund (and its predecessor bodies) spent approximately £1 billion on sports and recreation projects that had a social impact over that period.
	The sports distributors estimate that they will drawing down approximately £450 million this financial year and in each of the next three financial years.
	UK Sport invests in four-year cycles in line with the Olympic and Paralympic calendars. The breakdown of funding for each sport up to Pyeongchang 2018 can be found on the UK Sport website.

Neurofibromatosis

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government out of all known patients with neurofibromatosis Type 1, how many were treated in the last 12 months at the two designated national specialist care centres.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many patients with neurofibromatosis Type 1 are waiting to be treated at the two designated national specialist care centres.

Earl Howe: Whilst the number of people with neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) in England is estimated to number 11,267, the number of patients with a confirmed diagnosis is not collected.
	In the following table we have provided the number of finished admission episodes (FAEs) for patients with a primary diagnosis of NF1 who were treated at the two national specialist centres in 2012-13, the most recent period for which data is available. An FAE is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one
	consultant within one health care provider. It should be noted the figures do not represent a count of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year.
	
		
			 FAEs in 2012-13 for patients with primary or secondary diagnosis of NF1 (non-malignant) 
			 Trust Numbers 
			 Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 213 
			 Guys and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust 124 
		
	
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre
	Information concerning the number of patients waiting to be treated at the two national centres is not available.

Neurofibromatosis

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements are being made to treat patients with neurofibromatosis Type 1 who do not meet the thresholds set at the two designated national specialist care centres.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements are being made to monitor the implementation of the service specification for treating patients with neurofibromatosis Type 1.

Earl Howe: NHS England’s service specification for complex Type 1 neurofibromatosis (NF1) sets out what providers must have in place offer evidence-based, safe and effective care, ensuring equity of access to a nationally consistent, high quality service. The specification sets out a number of aims and objectives for the service which includes the operation of a rolling programme of clinical audit to test current practice and inform the evolution of care for patients with complex NF1.
	The complex NF1 service is accessible to all patients with a suspected or confirmed diagnosis of NF1, subject to an appropriate referral. Those patients identified by the service as having non-complex NF1 will have their care transferred to the appropriate local team as required.

Neurofibromatosis

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure early diagnosis of patients with neurofibromatosis type 1.

Earl Howe: Information for the public on the diagnosis and treatment of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) can be found on the NHS Choices website, which sets out the key signs and symptoms of the condition, including: coffee colored patches on the skin, two or more neurofibromas (bumps on or under the skin); bone defects, such as bowing of the lower leg; and, a family history of NF1. The NF1 webpages can be viewed at the following link:
	www.nhs.uk/conditions/Neurofibromatosis/Pages/Introduction.aspx
	More detailed information for general practitioners and other health professionals can be found on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence NHS Evidence website at:
	www.evidence.nhs.uk
	This provides free access to quality health and social care evidence and best practice.
	NHS England commissions complex NF1 services as part of its remit to deliver specialised services and has published a service specification for NF1. Diagnostic services are a core element of this specification and can be accessed by all patients with a suspected or confirmed diagnosis on referral.

NHS

Baroness Howe of Idlicote: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what opportunity the House of Lords and House of Commons will be given to scrutinise the NHS Mandate 2015–16 ahead of its publication.

Earl Howe: The Health and Social Care Act 2012 requires the Secretary of State to publish and lay before Parliament its Mandate to the NHS Commissioning Board (known as NHS England). Before specifying any objectives or requirements in the Mandate, the Secretary of State must consult NHS England, Healthwatch England and any other persons he considers appropriate.
	I announced on 22 July 2014 in a Written Ministerial Statement (HL Deb, column WS124-5) that the Government proposes to uphold all of the existing objectives in the current Mandate and maintain a stable Mandate for 2015-16. This will enable the National Health Service to build on its achievements and make further progress on the ambitious agenda already set.
	We have been working closely with NHS England on the approach to the Mandate and will be engaging with stakeholders over the summer, ahead of publishing and laying the final Mandate before Parliament in the autumn. The Mandate for 2015-16 will take effect from April 2015.

NHS

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the National Health Service Mandate in holding the National Health Service accountable to government.

Earl Howe: The National Health Service Mandate, which is published annually, sets the Government’s objectives for NHS England which NHS England must seek to deliver, and its business plan sets out how it will do so. Following this, NHS Planning Guidance sets out expectations on clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) for their role in delivering the mandate, which CCGs are then expected to reflect in their plans. As such, the mandate provides a basis for holding NHS England and, through them, CCGs, to account.
	The Department holds the NHS formally to account for its progress on achieving the objectives in the mandate through bi-monthly Secretary of State accountability meetings, of which the minutes are published. In July, the first Annual Assessment of NHS England was laid before Parliament by the Secretary of State, which covers the extent to which NHS England met its mandate in 2013-14.
	As the Annual Assessment acknowledged, NHS England and the wider system have recently undergone a complex transition process. This means it is difficult at this time to assess the effectiveness of the Mandate as an accountability mechanism. Nevertheless, we will keep this under review.

NHS

Baroness Greengross: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Ministerial Statement by the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt MP on 22 July (HC Deb, col 119WS), at what point the Department of Health decided on a “commitment to stability” for the NHS Mandate 2015–16 and whether this commitment will prevent changes to the Mandate ahead of its publication.

Earl Howe: The Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt MP, announced the Government’s intention to maintain a stable Mandate for 2015-16 at the same time as publishing the first Annual Assessment of NHS England. The Annual Assessment, and NHS England’s first Annual Report, describe an organisation that has established itself and made progress, but has more to do to deliver all of its objectives. The decision to propose a stable Mandate for 2015-16 was taken in view of the importance of continuity of purpose for NHS England in the final year of the current spending review cycle. The priorities for the National Health Service remain those described in the current Mandate for 2014-15, and the Government wants NHS England to make further progress still on the ambitious agenda already set.
	As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement on 22 July (HL Deb, column WS124-5), the Department is engaging with key stakeholders on its proposed approach over the summer. The Government will consider views expressed before finalising the Mandate for publication in the autumn.

NHS: Obesity

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they have on the numbers of National Health Service staff who are (1) obese grade I, (2) obese grade II (severe obesity), and (3) obese grade III (morbid obesity).

Earl Howe: The Department does not hold data on the number of National Health Service staff classified as obese.

NHS: Staff

Lord Grocott: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Earl Howe on 9 July (HL Deb, col 216) and Written Answer on 29 July (WA 286), how the figure of 19,300 fewer administrative staff was calculated.

Earl Howe: The source of the data is the NHS Hospital & Community Health Service (HCHS) monthly workforce statistics - Provisional Statistics published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. This covers directly employed staff working in the National Health Service and excludes staff working in general practice.
	The figure of 19,300 (rounded down to the nearest hundred) is the decrease in the full time equivalent number of ‘infrastructure support’ staff between May 2010 (204,695) and February 2014 (185,319). Infrastructure support includes staff that are coded as senior managers, managers, clerical and administrative staff in central functions and all staff in hotel, property and estates; it does not include administration staff that provide direct support to clinicians, such as medical secretaries and ward receptionists.
	Based on the latest available data, for April 2014, the number of full time equivalent infrastructure support staff stands at 184,533 and the reduction since May 2010 at over 20,100 (20,161 – rounded down to the nearest whole number).

Nigeria

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Nigeria concerning a reported military attack on pro-Palestinian protesters at the annual Al Quds Day rally.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We are aware that a number of civilian deaths occurred during the annual ‘Quds Day’ rally in Zaria, Kaduna State on 25 July and understand that the Nigerian police have opened an investigation. Officials at our High Commission in Abuja are seeking more details.

North Korea

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Baroness Warsi on 23 July (HL Deb, cols GC 460–4) on the Commission of Inquiry Report on human rights in North Korea, how many of the Commission’s recommendations that
	pertain specifically to Her Majesty’s Government have been implemented thus far; and whether there are any recommendations that they do not intend to implement.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Commission of Inquiry made nineteen recommendations to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) (para 1220, (a) – (s)); six for China and other States in the context of trafficking and forced repatriation of refugees (para 1221 (a) – (f)); one relating to inter-Korean relations (para 1222); two directed at states, civil society organisations, foundations and business enterprises (1223 and 1224) and ten to the international community and the United Nations (1225 (a) – (j)).
	The recommendations relating to trafficking and forced repatriation do not apply directly to the UK. However, we have been clear with the Chinese government and others that we believe that people who have escaped from the DPRK are entitled to protection and should be allowed safe passage to resettlement in third countries.
	Para 1223 relates to people-to-people dialogue and contact in areas such as culture, science, sports, good governance and economic development. As one of the few countries with a presence on the ground in Pyongyang, the UK can play a particular role in implementing this recommendation. We already seek to expose North Koreans to the outside world through the British Council English language training programme and other engagement activities.
	Para 1224 recommends that states and others should support the work of civil society organisations to improve the human rights situation in the DPRK, including efforts to document violations and to broadcast accessible information into each country. The UK has previously funded projects with South Korean non-governmental organisations related to documenting violations in the DPRK. We have also worked with international and domestic organisations within the DPRK to improve the treatment of disabled people. Our focus on direct engagement complements that of others, like the US, who support broadcasts into the DPRK.
	With regard to the recommendations for the international community and the United Nations, my noble friend, the former Senior Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Baroness Warsi), set out in detail in her reply on 23 July (Official Report, column GC461) the UK’s position on the recommendations for the UN Security Council (para 1225(a)) and our commitment to ensuring that the international community takes action in response to the Commission’s report (para 1225(f)). The recommendations in para 1225 (b) and (c) have been taken forward through the UN Human Rights Council and those in (d), (e) and (g) are primarily for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Secretariat. We are currently exploring the prospects for taking forward para 1225(h), which recommends forming a human rights contact group. Para 1225(i) relates to provision of humanitarian assistance. The UK does not have a bilateral aid programme in the DPRK, but agrees fully with points made in this recommendation about how such assistance should be provided.
	Para 1225(j) recommends the convening of a high-level political conference to consider a final peaceful settlement to the Korean War. A comprehensive resolution of the situation on the Korean peninsula will require the DPRK to address the international community's legitimate security concerns.

North Korea

Lord Eames: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Baroness Warsi on 23 July (HL Deb, cols 460–4GC) to the debate on the Commission of Inquiry Report on human rights in North Korea, whether the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and British Embassy in Pyongyang use teaching programmes in North Korean universities and colleges and children's care homes to challenge the indoctrination of children that was documented in the Commission Report; and if so, how.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The primary focus of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and British Council funded teacher training programme in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is on training teachers of English, although the programme also includes an element of direct teaching to university and middle school students. The programme uses a mixture of standard British Council English language materials and materials developed together with DPRK teachers specifically for the North Korean context. This includes, for example, a module on English for International Law, based on texts from the UN including the UN Charter. The DPRK would not agree to any programme that explicitly challenged their ideology, but through the programme North Korean teachers and students develop a better understanding of the UK and its values. They also experience an approach to learning based on questioning and reaching individual conclusions, rather than dictation and rote learning.
	While our Embassy in Pyongyang has funded some projects aimed at improving nutrition in children’s homes and childcare centres, we do not have any teaching programmes for these groups.

North Korea

Lord Eames: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Baroness Warsi on 23 July (HL Deb, cols 460–4GC) to the debate on the Commission of Inquiry Report on human rights in North Korea, what bilateral steps have been taken by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to end sexual violence in North Korea; whether experts from its Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative have entered into dialogue with the government of North Korea; and what assessment they have made of whether any projects explicitly designed to improve the rights of women in North Korean society have ever been implemented in North Korea.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We have been clear with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) that we find its appalling human rights record unacceptable and have called on it to take action in response to all of the Commission of Inquiry’s findings, including those relating to sexual and gender-based violence. We
	have also worked with the South Korean based non-governmental organisation (NGO), Citizens Alliance (NKHR), to fund a project on North Korean refugees and women’s rights in the DPRK and to increase the NGO’s capability in this field. The report produced through this project was submitted to the Commission of Inquiry and formed part of the evidence for their report.
	We do not have a full audit of projects undertaken by other Embassies, UN Agencies or NGOs. With regard to UK projects within the DPRK, it is only possible to undertake projects with a willing North Korean counterpart. We have not previously undertaken projects specifically designed to improve women’s rights or sexual and gender-based violence. To date experts from the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative have not held discussions with the Government of DPRK. The DPRK recently accepted a number of recommendations from its 2009 Universal Periodic Review, including some that related to equality and women’s rights. This creates a potential opportunity for engagement. We are currently considering how we might exploit this most effectively.

Occupied Territories

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what further action they plan to take internationally to ban the trade in goods and services from Israel's settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: While the issue of settlement produce is a subject of active discussion with our EU partners, the Government has no plans to take this further internationally. We are working together to ensure continued, full and effective implementation of existing EU legislation and bilateral arrangements applicable to settlement products. This ongoing work includes measures to ensure that settlement produce does not enter the EU duty-free, under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and steps to ensure that EU-wide guidelines are issued to make sure that settlement products are not incorrectly labelled as Israeli produce, in violation of EU consumer protection regulations.

Orders and Regulations

Lord Goodlad: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 29 July (WA 297), what percentage of statutory instruments laid by the Cabinet Office this calendar year corrected errors in a previous instrument (including drafts of affirmative instruments that had to be superseded by correcting drafts); and what were the titles of the correcting instruments.

Baroness Northover: In 2014 Cabinet Office has laid 22 statutory instruments, of which three corrected errors in a previous instrument (14%).
	The instruments concerned are the European Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Regulations 2014, the Local Authorities (Conduct of Referendums) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 and the Electoral Registration (Disclosure of Electoral Registers) (Amendment) Regulations 2014.

Pakistan

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have provided military intelligence, logistic and material support to the army of Pakistan during its military operations against international terrorist networks in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Government has not provided any direct intelligence, logistic and material support to Pakistan relating to its military operations in Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Palestinians

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to ask the government of Egypt to re-open the Rafah crossing for the evacuation of severely injured people from Gaza.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We welcome the repeated opening of the Rafah crossing for evacuation of the severely injured from Gaza that Egypt has facilitated throughout the current crisis, as well as the humanitarian aid packages it has supplied. We remain concerned about the fragile humanitarian situation in Gaza. We continue to encourage the Egyptian authorities to ease movement especially for humanitarian reasons through Rafah. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised the Rafah crossing with the Egyptian President during his visit to Cairo on 24 July.

Palestinians

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that Hamas militants are attempting to negotiate a new arms deal with North Korea for missiles and communications equipment.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We are aware of recent reports that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is supplying missile technology to
	Hamas militants. The DPRK supplies a wide range of conventional arms to customers worldwide, including Syria and Iran. Its sale of arms and related material to countries already in the grip of conflict exploits and increases regional instability. We urge all countries to exercise vigilance in the implementation of DPRK UN Security Council Resolutions.

Palestinians

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the practical and humanitarian consequences of the damage recently done to the large electricity plant in Gaza.

Baroness Northover: According to the UN, Gaza’s sole power plant remains shut down after being shelled on 29 July. The UN estimate that repairs may take months to complete, exacerbating the electricity crisis. The residents of Gaza are currently receiving on average 2 to 4 hours of electricity a day. This is affecting private households, companies and public services provision, including water, sanitation and health facilities as well as basic access to food.
	The UK will provide more than £17 million in emergency support for Gaza. This includes £6 million for the UN Relief and Works Agency Appeal, which will fund basic shelter, blankets, hygiene kits, nappies and other vital help for tens of thousands of displaced people; £3million for the World Food Programme’s appeal to provide emergency food vouchers for more than 300,000 people for one month; and £3million of support brought forward for the International Committee of the Red Cross. DFID has also activated the £3 million Rapid Response Facility which allows the UK to provide emergency support via pre-approved organisations that can rapidly deliver medical, water and sanitation assistance in response to a disaster or humanitarian crisis overseas. We are also matching donations to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for Gaza, up to a total of £2 million.

Palliative Care

Baroness Howe of Idlicote: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent steps they have taken to improve the provision of palliative care services.

Earl Howe: The Department and NHS England are taking steps to improve palliative care services, including the development of a per-patient funding model for palliative care services that aims to improve access to specialist palliative care.
	NHS England has established palliative care networks across England which are supporting improvements in palliative care services and sharing of good practice. NHS Improving Quality’s (NHS IQ) Transforming End of Life Care (EoLC) in Acute Hospitals programme is also helping to drive improvements for people in hospitals, such as the wider implementation of electronic palliative care registers (EPaCCS). These can provide
	instant access to key information about EoLC patients to all health professionals with a need to see it. NHS IQ has set an ambition to achieve a 70% roll out of EPaCCs by 2015.
	On 1 July 2014, we announced a review of choice in EoLC led by Claire Henry, Chief Executive of the National Council for Palliative Care. The Programme Board leading this work consists of representatives from charities, people with personal experience of EoLC (including carers), clinicians and policy makers. The review will undertake extensive public consultation to define what people want in EoLC services, and will provide advice to the Government on the policy initiatives required to enable people’s preferences to be met. This advice will be provided by early next year.

Palliative Care

Baroness Greengross: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps have been taken to explore the feasibility of replicating the Liverpool STARS programme for people at the end of life elsewhere in England.

Earl Howe: There are currently no plans to explore the feasibility of replicating the Liverpool STARS programme for people at the end of life elsewhere in England. This is a local initiative and it is for commissioners in other localities to determine how best to improve the provision of end of life care services in their areas, based on the needs of their populations.
	NHS England is responsible for improving end of life care services nationally and has established, and is supporting, palliative care networks across England. Through these networks and the work of NHS Improving Quality, NHS England is continuing to support improvements in palliative care services and sharing of good practice. The Transforming End of Life Care in Acute Hospitals programme is also helping to drive improvements for people in hospitals.

Palliative Care Funding Review

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the data collected by the Palliative Care Funding Review; and whether they have plans to introduce the provision of free social care at the end of life.

Earl Howe: The data collection exercise following the Palliative Care Funding Review concluded at the end of March 2014. These data are currently being analysed by NHS England, who intend to complete this analysis by the end of August.
	Any decisions on the provision of free social care at the end of life will be based on a combination of the analysis of these data, other relevant data sources and wider policy and financial considerations.

Pharmacy: Colne

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the causes of the delay in the transfer of the pharmacy into the new Colne Health Centre from the old premises; and when it will happen.

Earl Howe: This is an operational matter for the National Health Service locally. We understand that NHS Property Services has reached an agreement with Colne Pharmacy to move into the new health centre.

Prisoners: Dependants

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for judges asking individuals whom they have remanded or sentenced to prison whether there are any children or vulnerable adults dependent upon them.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what provisions exist to ensure that appropriate care arrangements are in place for the dependants of individuals who are refused bail and held on remand.

Lord Faulks: The Government is examining practical measures to ensure that information about dependents of those sent to custody is identified and recorded. The Government has considered the case for a statutory duty on courts to inquire about the existence of dependents but remains concerned that such a duty would be impractical for the courts to operate and not be effective in encouraging defendants and offenders to disclose, as early as possible, the existence of dependents.

Prisoners: Dependants

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimates have been made of the number of children or vulnerable adults dependent upon individuals who have been refused bail and held on remand in the last 12 months.

Lord Faulks: When deciding whether to refuse bail the court has a duty to take into account any relevant considerations, which can include those relating to the defendant’s responsibilities for the care of children or other relatives. Whilst there are a number of estimates of the number of children affected by a parent being sent to custody there is no estimate of the number of children or vulnerable adults dependent on individuals remanded in custody.

Religious Freedom

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 24 July (HL Deb, cols 1324–8) to the debate on Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, how many officials in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are specifically focused on freedom of religion, and for what percentage of their time; and what resources are specifically allocated for the promotion of Article 18 through United Kingdom diplomatic services.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Within the Human Rights and Democracy Department (HRDD), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has one full time Desk Officer wholly dedicated to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB), who works closely with the Team Leader in the Equalities and Non-Discrimination Team, who themselves spend approximately 50% of their time on FoRB. Additionally, the Head and the Deputy Head of HRDD spend approximately 5% and 20% respectively of their time on FoRB issues; one Human Rights Advisor spends 5% and one HRDD Communications Officer approximately 10%.
	As FoRB is one of only six thematic human rights priorities for the FCO, a considerable number of other FCO officials in London and overseas are engaged directly on FoRB as part of their wider human rights work. Given that violations of FoRB can be closely associated with other threats to UK interests around the world, I cannot provide a precise figure for the total number of FCO officials working on FoRB, though the number is high and rising.
	This year, seven FoRB projects around the world were approved and received total funding of £307,835.

Revenue and Customs

Lord Lipsey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average call waiting time in each of the last five years of the HM Revenue and Customs helpline.

Lord Deighton: The Government publishes monthly performance figures from 2011-12 onwards for the HMRC contact centre, including time waiting in a queue. The data is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-plan-indicators.

Russia

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are analysing any evidence relating to the suggestion that Russia may be in breach of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty; and, if so, when they expect to reach a conclusion.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The US briefed North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Allies on 29 July on its conclusion that Russia is in violation of its obligations under the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The UK and other NATO Allies are considering the detail of this briefing carefully. Although this is a bilateral Treaty to which the UK is not a party, the Government is clearly concerned at reports that Russia has breached its obligations under the Treaty, and is another example of Russia not adhering to international obligations and norms. The Government fully supports the statement made by the NATO Secretary General urging Russia to work constructively to return to full compliance in a verifiable manner.

Sexual Dysfunction

Lord Patel of Bradford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the “overall policy objective” referred to at paragraph 21, page 9 of their consultation response Proposed changes to NHS availability of erectile dysfunction treatments—changing prescribing restrictions for generic sildenafil.

Earl Howe: On 25 June 2014, the Department published the Government’s response to its consultation, Proposed changes to NHS availability of erectile dysfunction treatments: changing prescribing restrictions for sildenafil, a copy of which has been placed in the Library and which is available at:
	www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/322464/ED_Cons_response.pdf
	This explains the overall policy objective of amending Regulations governing National Health Service provision of some treatments for erectile dysfunction in a way that has benefits for patients, is affordable for the NHS and is consistent with European Union legislation.

Skin: Diseases

Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the length of time that patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria wait between initial diagnosis and referral to a specialist in England.

Earl Howe: The information requested is not held centrally and no assessment has been made.

Sovereignty

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their definition of a nation.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The normal criteria for recognition of a nation or state are set out in the Written Answer by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 16 November 1989, House of Commons Hansard Official Report, Column 494, noted below for ease of reference:
	“The normal criteria that we apply for recognition as a state are that it should have, and seem likely to continue to have, a clearly defined territory with a population, a Government who are able of themselves to exercise effective control of that territory, and independence in their external relations. Other factors, including some United Nations resolutions, may also be relevant.”

Spinal Injuries

Baroness Wilkins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to reduce the waiting lists for admission to the eight specialist spinal injury units in England of newly injured spinal cord patients prior to the review of demand and capacity by the Spinal Cord Injury Clinical Reference Group.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, Jane Ellison MP on 21 July (HC Deb, col 1009W), what assessment they have made of NHS England’s Spinal Cord Injury Service Specification of a minimum of 20 beds per unit against the criterion of providing a “safe and effective service”.

Earl Howe: The fluctuations of waiting times and the ability to discharge a patient to the next phase of their care are key factors in enabling the admission of new patients to a centre. NHS England, the eight specialist centres in England and the Spinal Injuries Association are working together to recommend changes to the continuing care process that would enable spinal cord injured patients to move to the next stage of their care as soon as clinically appropriate.
	The overall bed complement for England is being reviewed through a demand and capacity project, led by the Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Clinical Reference Group (CRG). The CRG aims to produce a report in 2015-16.
	NHS England’s SCI service specification clearly sets out what providers must have in place to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. It sets a core requirement that each specialised SCI Centre can demonstrate they have a minimum of 20 beds dedicated exclusively for the treatment and rehabilitation of SCI patients.
	This requirement was developed by the SCI CRG and endorsed and was adopted by NHS England as the responsible commissioner.

Spinal Injuries

Baroness Wilkins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that National Health Service wheelchair services do not delay discharge of patients at spinal injury units as a result of not assessing them for their wheelchair until two weeks before their due discharge date.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the procedure whereby wheelchair centres repeat the assessment of a spinal centre’s physiotherapist and seating consultant; and whether they are taking any steps to streamline the process.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of extra in-patient days that result from repetition by wheelchair centres of assessments carried out at spinal injury units.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on costs to the National Health Service of repetition by wheelchair centres of assessments carried out at spinal injury units as a result of (1) extra in-patient days as a result of delayed discharge, and (2) the organisation of the transport and nurse or therapist escort of the in-patient to the wheelchair centre.

Earl Howe: No estimate has been made of the levels of repetition of wheelchair assessment, the impact on bed availability and associated costs.
	The supply and maintenance of wheelchairs which fall outside the scope of Specialised Complex Disability Equipment Services are the responsibility of local clinical commissioning groups. NHS England expects that assessment of patients and the subsequent supply and adjustment of wheelchairs is carried out within a suitable timeframe and to ensure the minimum of disruption.

Spinal Injuries

Lord Verjee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total bed capacity of the United Kingdom's spinal injury units; and how that figure compares to the current level of acute and long-term readmissions.

Earl Howe: In England, the current capacity recommendation for spinal cord injury (SCI) patients as set out in NHS England’s specialised SCI service specification is a minimum of 20 beds at each of the eight specialised SCI centres. NHS England is responsible for commissioning SCI services and for reviewing capacity of SCI services in England.
	NHS England has advised that over the next year the SCI Clinical Reference Group is due to undertake a demand and capacity review of SCI services in England. There are no routinely available figures about acute and long-term readmissions to these units.

Sports

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how often, and when, the Cabinet Committee tasked with delivering an Olympic and Paralympic sports legacy has met since the London Games in 2012; what were the outcomes from each of the meetings for sport and recreation; and what has been the cost to the Exchequer for the Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Unit broken down according to activity.

Baroness Northover: As per the usual workings of a Cabinet Government, and in accordance with advice from the Cabinet Secretary, it is not Government policy to comment on the frequency or content of Cabinet Committee discussions.
	The cost to the Exchequer of the Legacy Unit since its creation in 2012, in addition to staff costs of around 10 staff at its peak, has been:
	Travel and subsistence – £4,000
	Communications activity - £8,000
	Stakeholder engagement - £1,000.

St Helena

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to ensure that direct flights from Europe which include a refuelling stop will be given full consideration in assessing which companies to invite to bid for the air service to the new airport on St Helena.

Baroness Northover: Potential Service Providers who meet the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) criteria will be asked to submit a tender to provide the St Helena Air Service; all tenders will be given full consideration.

Stabilisation Unit

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the individual cost of preparing deployable civilian experts, civil servants and police officers for service abroad with the Stabilisation Unit broken down by (1) medical examinations, (2) security clearance, (3) Hostile Environment Acclimatisation Training, and (4) helmet, bullet proof jacket and first aid equipment.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The varied nature of Stabilisation Unit activity results in there being no uniform cost for deployment. The costs of Stabilisation Unit deployments are dependent upon the hostility of the location in which the work is to be undertaken, the duration of the task and the status of the individual being deployed. Costs also vary depending on whether those deploying have been trained previously, have travelled to similar destinations and possess relevant vaccinations. The Stabilisation Unit’s contractual mechanisms are regularly reviewed to maximise value for money.

Taxation

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the additional annual funding that would be raised by (1) each one per cent rise in income tax, (2) each one per cent rise in national insurance contributions, (3) abolishing the ceiling on national insurance contributions, (4) doubling the duty on (a) tobacco, (b) alcohol, and (c) gambling, and (5) for each one per cent increase in inheritance tax (with current exemption arrangements).

Lord Deighton: Information on the revenue effects of changes in income tax, national insurance contributions, tobacco, alcohol and inheritance tax is available and published in the table ‘Direct effects of illustrative tax changes’ published on the GOV.UK website[1].
	The table is a ‘ready reckoner’ showing estimates of the effects of various illustrative tax changes, on tax receipts in 2014-15 to 2016-17.
	[1]
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/ attachment_data/file/297451/20140318_DirectEffectof illustrativechanges_Mar_v0.1.pdf

Telephone Preference Service

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review the effectiveness of the Telephone Preference Service.

Baroness Northover: Whilst we have no such plans in place I am pleased to note that Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office published new consumer research on the effectiveness of the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) on 24 July 2014. This independent research showed that registering with the TPS reduced all types nuisance calls, including live sales calls, recorded messages and silent and abandoned calls by around a third. The full Ofcom report can be accessed at: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/other/telecoms-research/tps-effectiveness/
	As noted in our Nuisance Calls Action Plan of March this year we are keen to improve the enforcement of the existing regulations as we believe this will further increase the effectiveness of the TPS.

Uganda

Lord Verjee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what diplomatic initiatives they have undertaken following the passing of anti-homosexual legislation in Uganda; and to what extent are they supporting British non-governmental organisations in working towards a future of equality within the country.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The UK welcomes the decision of the Ugandan Constitutional Court on 1 August to annul the Anti-Homosexuality Act. We have consistently raised our concerns about the legislation with the Ugandan government. Most recently the Secretary of State for International Development, the right Hon. Member for Putney (Justine Greening), and the former Minister for Africa at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my Hon. Friend the Member for Boston and Skegness (Mr Simmonds), raised the issue in separate meetings with President Museveni on 6 May.
	The UK has worked closely with international partners to register our concerns, and to seek assurances about the protection of individuals. With our support, EU Heads of Mission in Kampala initiated strengthened political dialogue with Uganda under Article 8 of the Cotonou Agreement.
	We engage closely with UK and other civil society groups working in Uganda, and are stepping up our support to organisations that protect minority rights.

War Crimes

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their definition of a war crime.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The definition of a war crime is set out in the International Criminal Court Act 2001, section 50 and Schedule 8 (which sets out the terms of Article 8.2 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court).

World Bank

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have held with the World Bank about the Bank’s policies regarding safeguards for indigenous peoples.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the decisions taken at the World Bank’s Executive Board meeting on 30 July 2014.

Baroness Northover: We welcome the draft framework as an important step forward in updating the Bank’s approach to safeguards and as a good basis for further consultation. We will continue to engage with World Bank management as the framework is developed further during the second consultation stage.

Affordable Housing: Greater London

Lord Verjee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government to what extent they are supporting the Greater London Authority in providing affordable accommodation for young professionals within the capital.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Government has delegated responsibility for housing in London to the Greater London Authority.
	This Government has provided £1.1 billion of funding to the Greater London Authority that has unlocked further private investment to help meet the Mayor’s target of delivering 55,000 new affordable homes by 2015, in fact almost 49,000 new affordable homes have already been delivered in London since 2010-11 based on current estimates. A further £1.25 billion of funding is being provided which, with the additional private investment this will unlock, will deliver a further 42,000 affordable homes in London by 2018.
	We have launched Help to Buy: Equity Loan which enables people to fund the purchase of a new build home with a five per cent deposit and an equity loan of twenty per cent. By the end of June 2014 there had been 1,750 sales in London.
	The £1 billion Build to Rent Fund is financing the construction of new homes specifically for private rent in London and across England. Three of the projects already in contract are together delivering over 500 new homes for private rent in London, including in Ealing, Brentford, West Drayton, Newham and Barnet.
	We are creating new Housing Zones to support housing development on brownfield sites in London with £400 million funding from the government and the Mayor of London. The Mayor expects to create 50,000 new homes in twenty Housing Zones across London.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, Phillip Dunne MP on 2 July (HC Deb, col 678W), what is “the composite share ratio”; and what proportion of the £999 million government contribution it represents.

Lord Astor of Hever: The Composite Share Ratio (CSR) is the financial contribution paid by each partner nation to common production, support and follow-on development activities for the collaborative partnership that jointly manages the international Joint Strike Fighter programme. This is a non-discretionary contribution which the UK committed to with other partner nations when signing the production, sustainment and follow-on Development Memorandum of Understanding in 2006. It buys joint assets such as production tooling and common technical services which enable the aircraft to be both manufactured and supported. CSR is calculated based on the total number of aircraft being procured by each nation.
	At publication of the National Audit Office major Projects Report 2013, the CSR portion of the £999 million approved cost for the production of four aircraft, including initial spares provision, risk, concurrency, necessary programme and support arrangements and long lead items was £230.4 million. The last financial year of this CSR figure is based on an estimate which is subject to minor change and will be published in the National Audit Office Major Projects Report 2014. This CSR figure will be a reduction and not an increase.

Politics and Government: Females

Lord Verjee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the publication of the Ministry of Defence’s Global Strategic Trends out to 2045, what consideration they have given to its assessment that women at the highest levels of politics are likely to continue to be predominantly drawn from elite societal groups.

Lord Astor of Hever: The Ministry of Defence publication “Global Strategic Trends—Out to 2045” assessments of gender equality performance show an overall improvement. Women’s participation in politics in both developing and developed countries has increased—a trend that has accelerated during the last decade. However, there are impediments to female participation as globally women often lack the resources to access politics. They find barriers at selection and campaigning stages as well as prejudicial attitudes
	during elections. As a result, women at this highest level of politics are likely to continue to be predominantly drawn from elite societal groups. The Government’s UK National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security is available on the gov.uk website at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/319870/FCO643_NAP_Printing_final3.pdf

Claims Management Services

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the application of the Conduct of Authorised Persons Rules 2013.

Lord Faulks: The application of the Conduct of Authorised Persons Rules (“Rules”) is under continuous review. The Rules were first introduced in 2007 and revised between April and July 2013 to strengthen existing action to drive out poor practices and better protect consumers. Most crucially verbal contracts were brought to an end and a ban was imposed on claims management companies (“CMCs”) offering cash incentives or similar benefits to consumers to bring claims.
	This year, in response to concerns raised by the financial services industry, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Financial Ombudsman Service regarding the poor practices of some CMCs presenting financial claims, the Department's Claims Management Regulator consulted on changes to the Conduct of Authorised Persons Rules 2013 and published the response in June 2014. The new Rules will come into effect in October 2014.

False Imprisonment

Lord Vinson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 24 June (WA 144), what was the overall cost for the last three years of legal aid claims in respect of false imprisonment; and into which categories they record such costs as falling.

Lord Faulks: The table below shows the total amounts claimed against closed false imprisonment matters from the 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14 financial years. These matters cover domestic false imprisonment, and both legal and illegal immigration false imprisonment matters.
	The claim values represent the total amounts paid against cases closing in the respective period, and as such, some of the expenditure against these cases may have been incurred in earlier periods. The costs are recorded as falling in the category Actions Against the Police.
	
		
			 Financial Year Claim Value 
			 2011-12 £191,556.33 
			 2012-13 £134,999.82 
			 2013-14 £517,980.45 
		
	
	The increase in claim value in 2013/14 compared to previous years is largely due to one case which started in 2002, for which a final bill was submitted in January 2014. This case, known as Austin and Saxby, was a test case on behalf of a much larger group of individuals relating to protests on May Day 2002. They claimed that they had been unlawfully subjected to the procedure known as kettling by the Metropolitan Police. The case went to the House of Lords (Supreme Court) where they lost and the law was eventually clarified.

Parking

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that any changes in parking regulations do not affect bus routes.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: As noted in the answer to the noble Lord of 29 July 2014, Official Report, Column WA279, the Government will be banning the use of CCTV for municipal parking enforcement, subject to a very small number of exceptions that emerged following the public consultation; this includes parking in bus lanes.

Postal Service: Competition

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Ofcom has conducted any analysis of regulatory options to protect the universal postal service in the case of a material increase in end-to-end competition.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The regulatory options for protecting the universal service are set out in the Postal Services Act 2011. Parliament has given Ofcom the primary statutory duty to secure the provision of the universal service and the powers and tools it needs to do so.
	Ofcom has carried out a consultation on end-to-end competition in the postal services sector and published a Guidance paper on the use of its regulatory options and the circumstances under which it would intervene to protect the universal service from any serious threat from competition.
	More information about this consultation on end-to-end competition and the Guidance (“Final Guidance on Ofcom’s approach to assessing the impact on the universal service”) can be found on Ofcom’s website (www.ofcom.org.uk).

Postal Services: Competition

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect Ofcom to undertake a review of the impact of end-to-end competitors on the universal postal service.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Ofcom is committed to carrying out a full review on end-to-end competition next year. It has also made clear that it would carry out an earlier review if market developments dictated the need to do so.
	Ofcom has set out its approach towards carrying out a full assessment of end-to-end competition in its Guidance published in March 2013 (“Final Guidance on Ofcom’s approach to assessing the impact on the universal service”).
	Ofcom has in place a continuous monitoring regime and access to key confidential data from Royal Mail and other postal operators which would enable it to anticipate any potential threat to the universal service. They are keeping market developments under close monthly review and if this monitoring identified cause for concern Ofcom has said that they would be able to carry out a review very quickly.

Prison Sentences

Lord Lloyd of Berwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many offenders were given tariffs of less than two years under section 225 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 before the Act was amended in 2007; how many of those offenders are still in prison; how many of those still in prison were given tariffs of (1) less than 3 months, (2) between 3 and 6 months, (3) between 6 and 9 months, (4) between 9 and 12 months, (5) between 12 and 15 months, (6) between 15 and 18 months, and (7) between 18 months and 24 months; of what offences they were convicted, by offence group in each category; and how they are currently assessed in respect of (a) likelihood of reoffending, (b) risk of serious harm to themselves, and (c) serious harm to the public.

Lord Faulks: The data requested for offenders who received IPP sentences with tariffs of less than 2 years prior to the reforms introduced by the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Interrogation of individual electronic records would be required to provide the requested detailed information for the offenders concerned.

Energy: Prices

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to encouraging energy companies to use income-differentiated tariffs as a means of addressing fuel poverty.

Baroness Verma: Energy suppliers provide direct bill support for low income households through the Government’s Warm Home Discount scheme. As the original impact assessment for the scheme made clear, the scheme grew in part out of a concern about affordability of energy bills and accessibility of appropriate tariffs for those on low incomes. The scheme is now hugely successful. This year the Warm Home Discount will give eligible low-income bill payers £140 money off their energy bills, helping over 2 million people including 1.4 million of Britain’s most vulnerable pensioners.
	There has been consideration of the role of differentiated tariffs as part of the Hills Review of Fuel Poverty, and in the development of Fuel Poverty: Framework for future action and cutting the cost of keeping warm, the consultation to prepare for a new fuel poverty strategy.
	We continue to monitor the impacts of Ofgem’s Retail Market Review and wider Government action to ensure that consumers are treated fairly in the energy market and are better able to choose a deal that suits them. We expect to keep the case for further action under review as part of this.

Prisoners: Self-harm

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken in response to Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons’ findings in respect of case management procedures to support those at risk of self-harm and the number of self-harm incidents.

Lord Faulks: The Government is committed to reducing self-harm in prisons. The Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process provides a prisoner-centred, flexible case management system for prisoners identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons has made recommendations about improving the operation of the ACCT system in a number of prisons during the last year, and action is being taken to address these recommendations within those prisons. Dedicated resources and additional support are being provided to improve safer custody work in prisons, including improving the consistency of the application of the ACCT system.

Ranby Prison

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what changes they plan to make to HMP Ranby in the light of the report of an unannounced inspection of HMP Ranby by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons published on 24 July 2014.

Lord Faulks: A comprehensive action plan incorporating essential improvements at HMP Ranby has been drawn up in response to the unannounced inspection by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons published on 24 July 2014. This plan includes a response to all recommendations made and gives specific time-bounded actions. The plan is monitored by NOMS.

Ranby Prison

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take to increase the number of prisoners working, in the light of the findings of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons’ report of an unannounced inspection of HMP Ranby, published on 24 July.

Lord Faulks: Since the unannounced inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, activity spaces at HMP Ranby have increased by 95 places. Additional staff are being recruited to allow the workshops to employ further prisoners and further work has been secured.

Supermarkets: Competition

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to lay before Parliament the statutory instrument recommended by the Groceries Code Adjudicator to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the maximum level of fine that can be applied for a breach of the Code; and if so, when.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government intends to bring legislation before Parliament this autumn to set the maximum level of fine that the Groceries Code Adjudicator may impose in respect of breaches of the Groceries Supply Code of Practice.

A417: A436

Lord Tyler: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the timetable for the major improvement of the A417/ A436 junction at the Air Balloon roundabout in Gloucestershire; and what immediate steps are planned to alleviate the traffic congestion in that area.

Baroness Kramer: The Highways Agency is preparing a Route Strategy for the Midlands to Wales and Gloucestershire. This includes the A417/A436 junction at the Air Balloon roundabout, which itself is part of the section of the A417 known as the ‘Missing Link’ and identified as a key issue on this route. The next stage will be to assess options, including major improvements, and to produce indicative business cases as the basis upon which to prioritise investment from 2015. Outcomes from the Route Strategies are expected to be announced in spring 2015. There are no other immediate plans to undertake any works on this route before the Route Strategy is concluded.

Amantadine

Baroness Gale: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people in England with (1) Parkinson’s, and (2) other conditions, have been prescribed Amantadine in each of the last five years.

Earl Howe: Information is not collected centrally on the number of people prescribed medicines or the medical condition being treated. However, information is available on the number of prescription items dispensed in the community in England.
	The following table shows the number of prescription items dispensed for amantadine hydrochloride in the latest available five year period.
	
		
			 Number of prescription items for amantadine hydrochloride written in the United Kingdom and dispensed, in the community, in England 
			 Year Items (000s) 
			 2009 95.4 
			 2010 99.7 
			 2011 105.5 
			 2012 111.2 
			 2013 113.4 
		
	
	Source: Prescription Cost Analysis provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre

Antisemitism

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they last conducted an assessment of levels of anti-semitism in the United Kingdom; and what plans they have for future such assessments.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Association of Chief Police Officers' National Community Tension Team regularly produces a 'Community Impact Assessment' which contains an assessment on the state of community relations, this includes the level of antisemitism. This
	material is not shared with the public, as it contains operational policing information. The National Community Tension Team liaises with the Community Security Trust at the national level on behalf of the police service. Police Forces with significant Jewish communities liaise closely at the local level.
	The Association of Chief Police Officers’ also publishes its recorded antisemitic crime data annually on the True Vision website at: http://www.report-it.org.uk/hate_ crime_data1

Children: Personal Records

Lord Rooker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Garden of Frognal on 8 January 2013 (HL4331), on what date Ministers received the report "Information sharing in the Foundation Years"; and what action has been taken to implement the recommended changes.

Lord Nash: The final report was submitted to Ministers in March 2013. On 21 November 2013, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education and Childcare published a joint response welcoming the report, and setting out action underway to address the report’s recommendations. The response is published online at:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/information-sharing-in-the-foundation-years-ministerial-letter

Children's Centres

The Earl of Listowel: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Nash on 30 July (HL1559–62), what assessment they have made of The Children’s Society’s report The Right Start in respect of the number of local authorities that do not routinely share live birth data with children’s centres; and what plans they have to ensure that health services and local authorities share live birth data.

Lord Nash: My officials, and officials at the Department of Health, have reviewed the report and met representatives from The Children’s Society to discuss the issues raised and the work that the Government is taking forward in this area.
	The Department for Education’s Sure Start children’s centres statutory guidance says that health services and local authorities should share information (such as live birth data and data on families with children under five who have recently moved into the area) with children’s centres on a regular basis.
	The Department of Health is working with NHS England and partners, including the Health and Social Care Information Centre, to explore the practical issues involved in providing regular and timely updates of live birth data to local authorities.

Consumers: Protection

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the comments by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Jenny Willott, on 13 May (HC Deb, col 691), whether they will set out the additional guidance produced by the Trading Standards Institute in relation to the cited consumer regulations of December 2013.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Guidance on the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 has been produced by the Trading Standards Institute, and is available at http://www.businesscompanion.info/. This guidance is updated regularly, and we have asked TSI to consider providing clarification on ticket sales as part of these updates.

Diesel Fuel

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what incentives they have put in place over the past 20 years to encourage motorists to switch from petrol to diesel fuel.

Baroness Kramer: The Government is committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions from transport as part of targets set in the carbon budget. Successive governments have been hugely successful in this aim and consumers have benefited from more fuel efficient vehicles, including those with petrol engines.
	At various points in time successive governments have put in place different treatments of petrol and diesel vehicles under transport related taxes such as Vehicle Excise Duty and Fuel Duty. Over this Parliament neither Vehicle Excise Duty nor Fuel Duty has distinguished between petrol and diesel vehicles.
	Diesel cars and vans have become increasingly popular, reflecting good fuel efficiency and the improvements in engine technology. Diesel engines can produce more air pollution than petrol engines. Successively tighter European emission standards for new diesel vehicles has reduced particulate matter pollution and will address emissions of oxides of nitrogen.

Energy: Meters

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to encouraging the six largest energy companies to develop and use their own vulnerability checklist as part of a comprehensive assessment process to help determine a household's circumstances before any new pre-payment meters are installed, in accordance with the voluntary code agreed with Consumer Focus in March 2011.

Baroness Verma: All the large suppliers have agreed to the 5 key principles set out by Consumer Focus in March 2011. This includes a check of whether a customer is vulnerable before installation of a prepayment meter and offering a different payment method if appropriate. In the 2012 report “Making Progress” Consumer Focus found that most large suppliers use a checklist to help staff identify the best approach. This report is available at this link:
	http://www.consumerfutures.org.uk/files/2013/07/Making-progress.pdf
	Government supports initiatives to ensure that vulnerable pre-payment customers are being treated fairly and receiving appropriate support and is considering areas where Government action could further improve the consumer experience of pre-payment customers.

Energy: Meters

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will work with energy companies to ensure that those using pre-payment meters pay the equivalent tariffs to those paying by direct debit, irrespective of whether smart meters are installed.

Baroness Verma: Energy supplier licence conditions, set by Ofgem, allow suppliers to apply different charges to different payment methods providing the differentials reflect the costs to the supplier of the form of payment. This allowance is made in recognition of the fact that some payment methods are more expensive to administer than others. In May 2014, Ofgem published the results of analysis on this issue which showed that across the market the price on different payment methods reflects the varying costs suppliers face in providing them. This is available at the following link:
	https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/price-differences-between-payment-methods-%E2%80%93-open-letter

Floods: Somerset

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the readiness to deal with possible flooding on the Somerset Levels in the winter of 2014–15.

Lord De Mauley: Repairs to damaged assets in Somerset form part of the large national programme for preparedness ahead of the coming winter. This programme is progressing on time. All of the flood risk assets damaged last winter will either be fully repaired before the coming winter or, for a small number of assets, will have temporary repairs to ensure communities are protected, with permanent works to follow or clear contingency plans in place.
	In Somerset the Environment Agency has identified a total of 48 projects, including some improvement projects, which are new works as part of the Somerset Flood Action Plan. As of 3 September, 11 projects were completed, 25 were underway and 12 due to start. We expect all projects to be completed by 31 October.

Gambling: Internet

Lord Mancroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when further guidance will be provided to online poker gambling companies and their software providers in respect of the latest licence conditions and codes of practice guidance relating to the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014, the sharing of information to prevent cheating, money laundering, crime and problem gambling, and the investigation of customer complaints.

Lord Newby: The Gambling Commission has no immediate plans to add to the guidance already given, but will add answers to any specific questions or points that may emerge in the Commission’s Frequently Asked Questions blog.

Gambling: Internet

Lord Mancroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will clarify which elements of the Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards are considered mandatory; and whether they have received any communication from businesses about the clarity of the guidance relating to those Standards.

Lord Newby: The Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards clearly differentiate between requirements which are mandatory and those provisions which are guidance. The Government has not received any communication from businesses about the guidance.

Gambling: Internet

Lord Mancroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why, in respect of the Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards, concessions were granted on compliance times in relation to auto-play and clock display.

Lord Newby: The Gambling Commission has identified significant differences between its own auto-play requirements and those currently available to British
	consumers from operators based in other jurisdictions where they can currently offer gambling to the British market. The Commission is currently consulting on improvements to auto-play requirements and wanted to avoid unnecessary investment by operators to change their auto-play functionality whilst this is underway. There has been no concession in relation to the technical standard on clock display.

Gambling: Internet

Lord Mancroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what work has been done to ensure that new compliance rules relating to the Gambling Act 2005 and the Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards do not prevent any software businesses from providing services to the gambling industry.

Lord Newby: The Commission has held a number of meetings with software suppliers and users to discuss matters such as the length of time for suppliers to obtain the necessary licences. On current plans the requirement for licensed remote gambling operators to source their gambling software from Commission licensed gambling software businesses has been deferred until 30 January 2015. In addition, the Commission has published an advice note titled ‘What is gambling software?’. The Commission has also demonstrated its awareness of the commercial implications of its requirements by its willingness to contemplate ‘umbrella’ licensing arrangements in some circumstances.

Gambling: Internet

Lord Mancroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the release in July 2014 of the Gambling Commission’s consultation on amendments to its statement of principles for licensing and enforcement policy, with a closing date of September 2014, they have given consideration to delaying the deadline for applications for gambling software licences pursuant to the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014 until the second quarter of 2015.

Lord Newby: The consultation on minor updates and amendments to the Commission’s statement of principles for licensing and compliance ending on 30 September 2014, does not affect the timetable for applications for gambling software licences.

Gambling: Internet

Lord Mancroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Gambling Commission will publish the reasoning behind each gambling software licence decision.

Lord Newby: The Gambling Commission does not publish the reasoning behind all licence decisions, only those where there is a public interest in doing so. There are no plans to change this process.

Gibraltar: Spain

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 30 July (HL1323), why they accept that the European Commission has a locus in the matter of the border between Spain and Gibraltar; and whether they consider that locus to apply to action by the European Commission concerning incursions into British Gibraltar territorial waters by Spanish vessels from Spanish territorial waters.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Gibraltar forms part of the EU and the EU provisions on the free movement of workers, capital and services apply to Gibraltar. Spain is entitled to establish checks at the border with Gibraltar, but these checks must be proportionate and non-discriminatory in order to remain in compliance with EU law. Pursuant to its role as guardian of the EU treaties the European Commission has an important role to play in assessing whether Spain has complied with these EU law obligations. We have made consistently clear to the Commission that we believe Spain has breached EU law in this area and the Commission recently agreed that the checks giving rise to waiting several hours to cross the border were disproportionate.
	Incursions by Spanish state vessels into British Gibraltar Territorial Waters raise issues under the international law of the sea rather than under EU law. The UK robustly defends its sovereignty over British Gibraltar Territorial Waters by challenging all unlawful incursions and by making formal protests to the Spanish government.

Hearing Impairment: Health Services

Lord Elton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish their criteria for the award of contracts for the provision of audiology services to their agencies.

Earl Howe: There are no national criteria for awarding contracts for the provision of audiology services with the exception of a small number of specialised services which are commissioned nationally by NHS England. The specifications, setting out what providers must have in place to deliver specialised audiology services, can be found on the NHS England website at the following link:
	www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-d/d09
	The national contract for the provision of hearing aids is managed through the NHS Supply Chain and provides for the assessment of patients by National Health Service audiology professionals, as well as the provision and fitting of digital hearing aids. This
	contract ran from 2010 until 2014, and has subsequently been extended to July 2016. It is currently under review to determine the options for re-procurement after 2016. More information can be found at the NHS Supply Chain website at the following link:
	www.supplychain.nhs.uk/product-news/contract-launch-briefs/2014/july/hearing-aids-and-accessories/

Hindley Young Offender Institution

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the report published on 15 August by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons on the lower site at Hindley Young Offenders Institution, which found that there were insufficient services for boys with brain injuries, learning disabilities or in need of speech and language therapy, whether they have any plans to improve the health services provided to boys in the lower site at Hindley Young Offenders Institution.

Earl Howe: NHS England and Young Offenders Institution (YOI) Hindley have not yet responded to the August 2014 report published by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons. Currently, healthcare services commissioned for the population in YOI Hindley aged under 18 years include treatment for acquired or traumatic brain injury, learning disabilities and difficulties and speech, language and communication needs. These remain an important element of the overall service, which is based on needs identified in the health and wellbeing needs assessment for YOI Hindley.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 24 July (HL1011), what is the proposed timetable of steps in deciding when mitochondrial donation should be offered in treatment; and what impact each of the separate experiments recommended by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s Expert Panel will have on that timetable.

Earl Howe: The Government has decided to proceed with putting regulations before Parliament, subject to giving further consideration to the Expert Panel’s recommendations, refining the draft regulations to take account of changes identified during the consultation, and discussion with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority about an appropriate approval process. The Government will consider the timing of the regulations in the light of these actions. We aim to provide an update about this soon.

Iran

Lord Clarke of Hampstead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to review their relationship with the government of Iran, including considering firmer sanctions.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Since the election of President Rouhani in 2013, we have been working to improve the UK-Iran relationship for the benefit of both countries. We intend, following Iran’s assurances that UK staff in Iran would be safe and able to carry out their functions, to reopen our Embassy in Tehran as soon as practical arrangements allow. A global diplomatic presence is a key component of UK foreign policy. Nevertheless, there will continue to be range of issues on which the UK and Iran disagree. Restored embassies will enable us to better understand these differences and to work more effectively to tackle them.
	Along with our E3+3 partners, the UK remains committed to reaching a comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran which ensures that their nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful. Failure to reach a settlement would lead to the re-imposition of sanctions suspended under the interim deal and consideration of further sanctions pressure.

Iraq: Iran

Lord Clarke of Hampstead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the latest situation in Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We rely on the UN Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) for information about the situation at Camp Liberty, as they monitor the adherence by all parties to applicable human rights standards. On 31 August UNAMI reported that the provision of life support systems such as water, electricity and food continue to be well in excess of basic humanitarian standards.
	There are no residents now at Camp Ashraf. The final group of residents were transferred to Camp Liberty on 11 September 2013.

Middle East

Baroness Uddin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the statement by the then United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, that “there seems to be a strong possibility that international law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes,” by Israel in Gaza; and whether they have made any representations to the United Nations about that statement.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Government has taken note of the statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. We are clear that there must be meaningful investigations into possible violations of international humanitarian law by all sides, including those abuses committed by Hamas and other militant groups. We call on all parties to cooperate with the UN Commission of Inquiry, which must be balanced and impartial. We have not responded directly to the UN on this statement but we have commented publicly on a number of the issues raised in it. The UN Commission of Inquiry has yet to complete its work, so it would be wrong to pre-determine its findings.

Middle East

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Palestinian civilians, at the time of the latest ceasefire, had been (1) killed, and (2) injured, as a result of Israel’s military action in Gaza; how many of those casualties were children; and what were the comparable figures for Israeli civilian casualties from Palestinian military action in the same period.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: According to UN figures, the number of Palestinian civilians killed as a result of Israel’s military action in Gaza was, by the time of the 26 August ceasefire, 1,462. 495 of them were children. The UN does not provide exact figures for the number of injured Palestinian civilians. However, it estimates that over 5,000 women, children and elderly Palestinians were injured.
	According to Israeli government statistics, seven civilians in Israel were killed by rocket/mortar fire from militant groups in Gaza. Six of these were Israeli (including one child) and one was a Thai national. 126 were injured. Further casualties from Hamas rockets were thought to have been prevented by the Israeli Iron Dome system.

Middle East

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 30 July (HL1482), whether they now consider that the recent military action by Israel in Gaza is proportionate, as defined in the Joint Service Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict; and whether they will publish their assessment of the proportionality of that action.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Prime Minister, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has been clear on the UK’s recognition of Israel’s right to take proportionate action to defend itself and our condemnation of Hamas’s rocket attacks. We have consistently urged Israel to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties, to exercise restraint, and to help find ways to bring this situation to an end. There must now be meaningful, effective and independent investigations into possible violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by all sides, including those abuses committed by Hamas and other militant groups. Both sides should
	cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry set up by the UN Human Rights Council, which must itself be independent and balanced in its approach.

Middle East

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 18 August (HL1710), whether they regard that the lifting of the Israeli blockade of Gaza is a requirement for avoiding “a return to the status quo ante” set out in that answer.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: A durable ceasefire agreement will have to address the underlying causes of the conflict to bring an end to the cycle of violence. Avoiding a return to the status quo ante will require an agreement which: addresses Israel’s legitimate security concerns; allows the Palestinian Government under the leadership of President Abbas to resume control of Gaza to restore effective and accountable governance; and ensures the lifting of Israeli restrictions, to ease the suffering of ordinary Palestinians, and allows Gaza’s economy to grow.

Monetary Policy

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have ruled out cancelling the gilt-edged securities bought by the Bank of England under the quantitative easing policy.

Lord Deighton: The independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England has operational independence for monetary policy. The MPC makes decisions on its policy tools, including quantitative easing (QE), in order to meet the 2% inflation target in the medium term.
	The separation of fiscal and monetary policy is a key feature of the UK’s economic policy framework. To use monetary policy tools to meet fiscal objectives, such as financing government borrowing, could conflict with the MPC’s objective of price stability and undermine confidence in the monetary policy framework. Additionally, Government borrowing from the central bank is illegal under Article 123 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

National Child Measurement Programme

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the cost of the National Child Measurement Programme.

Earl Howe: On 1 April 2013, Public Health England (PHE) took on responsibility for national oversight of the National Child Measurement Programme
	(NCMP). The total cost of the programme to PHE for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 financial years are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial Year Programme costs Capital costs Totals 
			 2013-14 £323,000.00 £1,089,419.00 £1,412,419.00 
			 2014-15 £340,000.00 - £340,000.00 
			£1,752,419.00 
		
	
	There were exceptional costs in 2013-14 due to the need to develop a new NCMP IT system to enable local authorities to carry out their statutory duty of returning NCMP data to the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

NHS

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Ministerial Statement on the NHS Commissioning Board: Annual Assessment and Annual Report and Accounts by Earl Howe on 22 July (WS 124–5), what factors they considered when they decided on which date to make that statement; and what arrangements they have made for parliamentary scrutiny of the NHS mandate for 2015–16.

Earl Howe: We announced on 22 July 2014 in a Written Ministerial Statement on the NHS Commissioning Board: Annual Assessment and Annual Report and Accounts (WS 124-5) that the Government proposes to uphold all of the existing objectives in the current mandate and maintain a stable mandate for 2015-16. This announcement was made on 22 July so the annual assessment could be published before Parliamentary recess and alongside the annual report of the NHS Commissioning Board (known as NHS England). The timing of the publication of NHS England’s Annual Report and Accounts was determined by the annual reporting cycle of the Department and its arm’s-length bodies. The exact date of the Written Ministerial Statement was subject to other Government business.
	The Health and Social Care Act 2012 requires the Secretary of State to publish and lay before Parliament its mandate to NHS England. Before specifying any objectives or requirements in the mandate, the Secretary of State must consult NHS England, Healthwatch England and any other persons he considers appropriate.
	We have been working closely with NHS England on the approach to the mandate and have been engaging with stakeholders over the summer, ahead of publishing and laying the final mandate before Parliament in the autumn. The mandate for 2015-16 will take effect from April 2015.

Offences against Children: Rotherham

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they are giving to bringing criminal charges for conspiracy and misconduct in a public
	office against any officials, social workers, councillors and police officers who failed to take action against child abusers and rapists, as outlined in the report by Professor Jay, Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham (1997 – 2013).

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: South Yorkshire Police is currently conducting a number of investigations which relate to the period covered by the report. As these are ongoing investigations it would be inappropriate to make further comment. The CPS will consider all potential offences referred to it by the police in accordance with the two-stage test set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

Ophthalmic Services

Lord Elton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the optometry services provided under contract to their agencies operate in a market in which there are sufficient independent providers to maintain the stimulus of fair commercial competition.

Lord Elton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish their criteria for the award of contracts for the provision of optometry services to their agencies.

Lord Elton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether their policy for the award of contracts for the provision of optometry and other services to their agencies includes a requirement to assess and compare the net tax revenue that would be provided by each competing bidder; and, if not, why not.

Earl Howe: All Government agencies are subject to European regulations covering both competition and awarding public contracts. Additionally, they apply the Government’s principles of transparency in communicating commercial opportunities, which includes actions to stimulate and attract opportunities for small and medium enterprises.
	Standard tender documentation for commercial contracts incorporates a pre-qualification questionnaire that requests information from bidders as part of the Government’s policy, to check compliance with company tax laws. The information requested is proportionate with the value of the contract to be awarded.
	In line with Government policy all new procurement tenders and contract awards are published via the Government’s central record system known as ‘Contracts Finder’. It would not be possible to quantify prospectively the net tax revenue likely to be generated by each competing bidder.

Ophthalmic Services

Lord Elton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish the terms of the recently awarded contract to supply optometry services to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for a three-year period.

Baroness Kramer: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency published an advertisement relating to this contract in the Official Journal of the European Union. This document outlined to prospective bidders the duration of the contract and the categories required for service delivery. Due to the detail and length, I have placed copies of this advertisement as well as copies of the Contract Award Notice, the terms and conditions of the contract and the specifications of the contract in the Libraries of the House.

Palestinians

Baroness Deech: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 29 July (HL1376), and in the light of the discovery of tunnels from Gaza into Israel, what assessment they have made of the measures put in place by the United Nations to avoid the diversion of materials imported into Gaza, in particular concrete, from humanitarian use.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The discovery of a number of tunnels reaching Israel during Operation Protective Edge is deeply concerning. The UN implement a strict controls system with the Government of Israel for the import of construction materials for use in humanitarian projects in Gaza, in order to mitigate the risk of transfer of materials for use other than that intended. Given the recent conflict in Gaza which has left more than 108,000 people homeless, there is an urgent need for legitimate construction work in Gaza and we are talking to the UN and Israel to support a way forward that addresses Israel’s security concerns whilst meeting the clear humanitarian need.

Parliament: Work Experience

Lord Verjee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they intend further to support young people from low-income families in accessing government internship and work experience opportunities within the Palace of Westminster.

Lord Verjee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the administrations of the House of Commons and House of Lords about supporting young people from low-income families in accessing internship and work experience opportunities within the Palace of Westminster.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Placement schemes are a matter for the House authorities. I encourage the noble Lord to pursue this issue with the House authorities.

Pensions

Lord Barnett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they propose to maximise the availability of new pension freedoms.

Lord Deighton: The Government response to the consultation “Freedom and Choice in Pensions”, which was published in July, sets out how the new pension freedoms will be enacted. The Government estimates that up to 18 million people will be able to benefit from the reforms.

Pharmacy

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government on what basis the Department of Health reimburses small independent chemists for NHS prescription drugs; whether they reimburse the full wholesale amount to chemists; and, if the full cost is not reimbursed, on what basis the payment is made.

Earl Howe: The National Health Service pays community pharmacies that provide NHS pharmaceutical services a combination of fees and allowances for services provided and reimbursement for the products supplied as laid out in the Drug Tariff. The Drug Tariff is a compilation of determinations made by the Secretary of State and NHS England.
	The reimbursement prices for products supplied are set in a number of different ways depending, for example, on whether the product is prescribed as a brand or a generic. For example, reimbursement prices for the most commonly prescribed generic products are set out in Part VIIIA of the Drug Tariff and are placed in categories A, C and M. The reimbursement price is established differently depending on the category in which the product is placed. For example, Category M prices are set using volume and sales data from suppliers.
	The total of the reimbursement prices of products supplied by a pharmacy is subjected to a deduction as set out in Part V of the Drug Tariff. The size of the deduction is dependent on the value of the total of the reimbursement prices for that pharmacy. The larger the total, the larger the deduction. Each pharmacy providing NHS services, whether independent or part of a larger company, is paid in this way.

Prisons: Race Relations

Baroness Young of Hornsey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many race relations posts at a senior level there are currently in prisons; and what were the numbers (1) five, and (2) ten years ago.

Lord Faulks: Data on the number of Race Relations posts is not collected centrally. In 1997, the Prison Service Order (PSO) 2800 The Race Relations Manual made it compulsory for all Governors to appoint a Race Relations Liaison Officer and recommended that this should be at the Principal Officer (middle manager) grade. In September 2006, a revised PSO 2800 mandated that Prison Governors would recruit a Race Equality Officer (REO) based on competence and the skills needed to perform the role.
	In April 2011, Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 32/2011 Ensuring Equality was published, which removed all mandatory orders to have a specific post for race equality. It mandated that all prisons should have a senior manager with lead responsibility for coordinating work on all equality related issues.

Public Libraries

Lord Rooker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions are being taken at national level to preserve and enhance a public library system which takes account of the uses and demands of new technology.

Lord Newby: Library services are increasingly thinking of ways to serve the community in the 21st century and are constantly looking at ways they can provide a service to their users using available new technology. WiFi is available in various public libraries, with the number of locations offering this service continuing to increase. Many libraries already provide e-books for their users and the Government recently extended the Public Lending Right to e-books for on-site lending. Various libraries are being equipped with new equipment such as advanced reading technology to enable blind and partially sighted people access to digital and physical information. Libraries are also evolving their services - Exeter library now offers a Fab Lab which is a low-cost digital workshop equipped with laser-cutters, routers, 3D scanners, 3D milling machines, and programming tools, where you can “make almost anything”.

Railways: Bridges

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government who funded the footbridge at Stodham, near Petersfield, which was recently opened to provide an alternative to a level crossing.

Baroness Kramer: Network Rail is now an arm’s-length public sector body and the funding of the footbridge at Stodham is an operational matter for the company.
	Network Rail advises that it funded the footbridge at a cost of £350,000.

Railways: Electrification

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current estimate of cost overrun on future rail electrification.

Baroness Kramer: The detailed cost estimates for future rail electrification are still being developed by Network Rail and will be evaluated using the Enhancement Cost Adjustment Mechanism set out in the Office Rail Regulation’s Final Determination for Control Period 5. This process is not expected to conclude until early 2016.

Railways: Electrification

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Department for Transport and Office of Rail Regulation staff are investigating Network Rail's costs of electrification; and whether the Department for Transport is planning to take over the responsibility of the Office of Rail Regulation for monitoring Network Rail's costs.

Baroness Kramer: The detailed cost estimates for future rail electrification are still being developed by Network Rail and will be evaluated using the Enhancement Cost Adjustment Mechanism set out in the Office of Rail Regulation’s Final Determination for Control Period 5. This process is not expected to conclude until early 2016. There are no plans for changes to the responsibilities of the three organisations in relation to monitoring costs.

Rivers: Somerset

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the progress in setting up a rivers board better to manage water in the Somerset Levels.

Lord De Mauley: Local partners in Somerset are developing a plan for a new Somerset Rivers Board. Ministers and officials are in close contact with local partners about progress on the formation of the Board.

Turkey

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Popat on 11 August (HL1600), whether their assessment is that British Christian and Jewish visitors to Turkey do or do not have freedom of worship in those countries.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: It is our assessment that British Christian and Jewish visitors to Turkey do have freedom to worship there. The Turkish government is continuing to improve protections for all religious minorities in Turkey and we welcome this.
	We and our EU partners assess however that more needs to be done to entrench freedom of religion for all in Turkey and we will continue to encourage the Turkish authorities to make further progress, as part of our wider human rights dialogue.

Academies and Free Schools

Lord Grocott: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Lord Nash on 28 July (HL Deb, cols 1416–19), what proportion of the salary costs in free schools is spent on non-teaching staff.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Lord Nash on 28 July (HL Deb, cols 1416–19), what proportion of the salary costs in academies is spent on non-teaching staff.

Lord Nash: The proportion of the salary costs in academies spent on non-teaching staff is 27.6%.
	The proportion of the salary costs in free schools spent on non-teaching staff is 28.8%.
	These figures are based on the last published data for academies’ and free schools’ expenditure, which covers the 2011-2012 financial year.
	For comparison, the proportion of the salary costs in maintained schools spent on non-teaching staff is 33.1%.

Andy Coulson

Lord Trefgarne: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why Andy Coulson is being held in a top security prison.

Lord Faulks: Mr Coulson was initially located in the prison that served the court his case was being heard in. Belmarsh is a multi-functional prison; one of its roles is to hold all prisoners remanded or convicted from a number of courts.
	Prisoners are assigned a security category once they have been sentenced. A prisoner cannot be allocated to a prison of the appropriate category until their risks and sentence management targets have been assessed. Once this assessment was completed Mr Coulson was allocated to a Category D prison. He was transferred to the Category D establishment on 2 September 2014.

Anjem Choudary

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Home Office officials have had any discussions with Mr Anjem Choudary.

Lord Bates: Home Office officials have not had any discussions with Mr Anjem Choudary.

Anjem Choudary

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Home Office has, in the last 10 years, provided funding for any organisation supported, run or assisted by Mr Anjem Choudary.

Lord Newby: Under this Government, the Home Office has not provided funding for any organisation with a known association with Anjem Choudary. The Home Office has in place strict monitoring to make sure that funding and other support cannot be provided to extremist organisations.

Ashya King

Lord Trefgarne: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Attorney General was consulted about the European Arrest Warrant issued for the parents of Ashya King.

Lord Wallace of Tankerness: Both the police and CPS are independent of Government and save in cases which require his consent to prosecute the Attorney General has no role to play in the decision to apply to a court for a European Arrest Warrant (EAW). The alleged offence in this case did not require Attorney General’s consent and he was not, therefore, consulted prior to the application for a warrant.
	After the EAW had been obtained, as superintending Minister for the CPS, the Attorney General did discuss the case with the CPS; but the decision to apply to withdraw the warrant remained entirely that of the CPS.

Asylum: Iraq

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to resettling in the United Kingdom a proportion of those displaced from ISIS-controlled areas of Iraq.

Lord Bates: There are no current plans to resettle those displaced from ISIS-controlled areas
	of Iraq. However, we are proud of the UK’s record of offering protection to those genuinely in need, and the Government will of course continue to consider asylum claims, including applications from Iraqi nationals suffering religious persecution, under our normal rules.

Asylum: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many asylum seekers were first registered in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years; how many of those were children; and what were the ten most frequent countries of origin and the number of asylum seekers from each of those countries in the last five years.

Lord Bates: The Home Office does not centrally record information on the location of an asylum seekers point of claim. However we are able to provide the information that you have requested as it stands currently. This has been provided in the following tables.
	In line with our data protection principles, data sets with a cohort of fewer than 10 people have been replaced with a *.
	The number of cases where the claimant's latest address is in Northern Ireland by year of application is found in Table 1.
	
		
			  Year of Claim   
			  2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Total 
			 Total Number 137 157 208 250 224 113 1089 
		
	
	The number of these cases where the claimant was a minor, by year application is found in Table 2.
	
		
			  Year of Claim  
			  2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 
			 Total Number * * * * * * 
		
	
	The number of cases where the claimant's latest address is in Northern Ireland, sorted by year of application and by country of origin is found in Table 3.
	
		
			 Country of Origin Year of Claim  
			  2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 
			 China 44 37 46 49 28 25 
			 Somalia 11 17 53 66 43 13 
			 Sudan * 22 26 41 34 19 
			 Zimbabwe 18 * 10 11 17 * 
			 Nigeria * 15 10 15 16 * 
			 Iran * 14 * 12 * * 
			 Pakistan * * 10 * * * 
		
	
	
		
			 Syria Arab Republic * * * 14 * * 
			 Bangladesh * * * * * * 
			 Eritrea * * * * * * 
		
	
	The figures quoted relate to main claimants only and have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols, as such it should be treated as provisional and subject to change.

Asylum: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many asylum seekers applied for asylum in Northern Ireland after having first sought and been registered for asylum in the Republic of Ireland in each of the last five years; how many of those applicants were children; and how many overall were returned.

Lord Bates: The data requested is noted below. Figures for children are not recorded separately, and as such have been included in the data table.
	The minimum age of those recorded in the data set is 14.
	The figures quoted relate to main claimants only and have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols, as such it should be treated as provisional and subject to change. In line with our data protection principles, data sets with a cohort of fewer than 10 people have been replaced with a *.
	
		
			  Year of Claim 
			  2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 
			 Previously claimed in Republic of Ireland 15 21 28 32 34 
			 Returned to Republic of Ireland under Dublin Regulations 11 15 15 11 *

Asylum: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many asylum seekers are currently being housed in Northern Ireland; and how many were granted leave to remain in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years, and under which categories.

Lord Bates: The number of asylum seekers who currently reside in Northern Ireland is 545. The number of asylum seekers granted leave to remain whose latest address is in Northern Ireland is shown in the following table.
	The figures quoted relate to main claimants only and have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.
	This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols, as such it should be treated as provisional and subject to change.
	
		
			 Calendar Year 
			 Type of Decision 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 
			 Granted Asylum 24 31 62 80 56 15 
			 Other Grant 2 8 7 4 8 2 
			 Total Number 26 39 69 84 64 17

Asylum: Syria

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidance is given to the Counter Terrorism Unit concerning its involvement in the reception and integration of Syrian refugees under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme.

Lord Bates: The safety and security of the UK are our priority. An essential part of delivering this is knowing who is coming to the UK and carrying out all necessary checks in advance of their arrival. We therefore ensure that the necessary checks are undertaken before those accepted on the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme arrive in the UK. We have also been working with local partners, including local authorities, the police and healthcare sector, to ensure the safeguarding of individuals on the scheme when they arrive in the UK.

Asylum: Syria

Baroness Berridge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Syrian Refugees have arrived in the United Kingdom under the Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will extend the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme to include Iraqi Refugees fleeing religious persecution.

Lord Bates: The first beneficiaries of the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme arrived in March, and by the end of June 50 Syrians had been relocated to the UK. Groups of Syrians are now being brought to the UK on a regular basis under the scheme. We will be publishing the number of people arriving under the VPR scheme each quarter as part of the Home Office’s official migration statistics.
	The VPR scheme is a bespoke programme designed to help particularly vulnerable refugees displaced by the Syrian crisis who cannot be supported effectively in the region, particularly survivors of torture and violence, women and children at risk and those in need of medical care. We have no plans to extend the scheme to include Iraqi refugees fleeing religious persecution. However, the Government has already
	brought a number of Iraqis into the UK under the Gateway Programme where they have been in a protracted refugee situation for five years or more, and who amongst other things are escaping religious persecution.
	Furthermore, the Government will of course continue to consider asylum claims, including applications from Iraqi nationals suffering religious persecution, under our normal rules.

British Nationals Abroad: Armed Conflict

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to create a specific, indictable offence with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, for British subjects offering support to, or participating in, any foreign army, organisation or military unit which is not a member of NATO.

Lord Newby: British subjects who travel overseas to participate in armed conflict abroad can potentially be prosecuted under a wide range of terrorism and criminal law offences available under existing UK law. As such, a new offence of participation in foreign military organisations which are not members of NATO, is not currently under consideration.
	The Prime Minister has just announced proposals to further strengthen our capability to deal with the increased threat from foreign fighters and British-born jihadists who seek to harm the UK.

Cooperatives

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider that the Financial Conduct Authority’s responsibilities for the oversight of cooperative societies are sufficient to protect the interests of members and creditors.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they last reviewed the responsibilities and authorities of the Financial Conduct Authority to regulate cooperative societies.

Lord Deighton: The Financial Conduct Authority acts as the registrar for cooperative societies; it has no regulatory function in respect of cooperative societies where they are not authorised firms. The Government considers that this role is appropriate. The FCA was given additional powers in relation to this role in April 2014.

Cycleways: Greater London

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current position in respect of the agreement of the Royal Parks to the Mayor of London’s proposed east–west cycle superhighway; whether there has been any delay to that agreement; and if so, why.

Baroness Kramer: Her Majesty’s Government understands that Transport for London (TfL) is continuing to work with The Royal Parks to agree a suitable alignment for the East-West Cycle Superhighway through St James’s Park.
	TfL is also working with The Royal Parks to provide physically separated cycle routes on the roads in Hyde Park. Kerb-segregated cycle tracks are proposed for South Carriage Drive and West Carriage Drive to provide a continuous route for cyclists using the East-West Cycle Superhighway. TfL proposes to upgrade the junctions on these roads to make them safer and more convenient for pedestrians and cyclists. A kerb-segregated cycle track is also being considered for North Carriage Drive.
	TfL plans to consult on the Hyde Park proposals later in 2014.

Detention Centres: Children

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the recommendations made by Barnardo’s in its report of April 2014 on the treatment of children in the Cedars facility; which, if any, of the recommendations have been acted upon; and what actions have been taken.

Lord Bates: The Home Office welcomed Barnardo’s report which has been carefully considered. Of the five recommendations, family escort teams have been implemented. Of the remainder, what was recommended is largely current policy already including use of force which is subject to review. We are unable to accept the recommendation not to separate families as there will be occasions when this is unavoidable. Such decisions are scrutinised at senior level and by the Independent Family Returns Panel.

Entry Clearances

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review the criteria for giving visas to overseas church representatives in cases where all fares and expenses are guaranteed by a United Kingdom church body.

Lord Bates: Applicants for visit visas are required to have adequate funds available to cover the cost of their travel to and stay in the UK, without taking employment or accessing public funds. Entry Clearance Officers take into account the individual’s income and outgoings to see whether they have enough money to fund a trip to the UK as well as having suitable accommodation. Relatives and friends can offer this support by providing evidence to demonstrate
	they have the financial means to support the applicant, as well as information on where the applicant will be staying in the UK.
	Officials will be meeting colleagues from the Church of England soon to discuss the current process for visit visa applications for visitors. This should assist both applicants and United Kingdom church bodies when arranging visits to the UK as we want to ensure that genuine applicants who meet the requirements are able to demonstrate this sufficiently the first time.

Entry Clearances

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 11 August (HL1352), whether the citizens of the countries referred to in the answer could enter the Republic of Ireland and then enter the United Kingdom without a visa by entering Northern Ireland.

Lord Bates: Citizens of Bolivia, Fiji, Guyana, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland and Taiwan travelling to Northern Ireland, or any part of the UK, from the Republic of Ireland, require a UK visa.
	In recognition of the land border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, intelligence led operations are conducted to target potential abuse and identify those not in possession of the appropriate UK entry clearance.

Entry Clearances: Chernobyl

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what visa requirements, screening procedures and payments are necessary before an individual suffering from the after-effects of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster is permitted to enter the United Kingdom.

Lord Bates: Visa applications are considered under the relevant immigration rules and on the individual merits of the case. A standard visit visa costs £83.

Equal Pay

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will ensure that public authorities in England and Scotland have equivalent duties in respect of gender pay differences to those required by the Equality Act 2010 (Statutory Duties) (Wales) Regulations 2011.

Lord Newby: The public sector Equality Duty (PSED), at section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (the Act), consists of a general duty which requires public bodies to consider the key aims of eliminating discrimination, advancing equality of opportunity and fostering good relations when designing policies and delivering services. It commenced in April 2011 and applies equally across Great Britain.
	The PSED is underpinned by specific duties which are set out in secondary legislation to provide a framework to help public bodies meet the general duty. England, Scotland and Wales have taken different approaches towards the specific duties. The Scottish and Welsh specific duties, which are determined by the Scottish and Welsh Governments respectively in accordance with section 153(2) and (3) of the Act, adopt a prescriptive approach that places particular requirements on public bodies in respect of equal pay. The English specific duties, which aim to increase transparency and accountability, enable more flexibility for public bodies depending on their size and functions. However, guidance issued by the Government on the English specific duties makes it clear that public bodies should consider any equal pay issues affecting their workforce when reporting on their compliance.
	The Government has no current plans to change the specific duties. The Government appointed an independent Steering Group in 2012 to review how the PSED was operating. The Steering Group reported in September 2013 and concluded that it was too early to make a judgment on the overall impact of the PSED and the effectiveness of the specific duties. The Government accepted its recommendation that a further evaluation should be carried out in 2016 as more time is needed to let the legislation bed down.

European Fighter Aircraft

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Astor of Hever on 29 July (HL1167), how many fully qualified Typhoon pilots there are in the Royal Air Force.

Lord Astor of Hever: I am withholding the information requested as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Extradition

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Faulks on 29 July (WA 277), whether any working group or committee within Government is currently giving consideration to issues relating to extradition; and, if so, what matters are being considered.

Lord Bates: Both the UK Government and Scottish Government have said that there can be no ‘pre-negotiations’ on independence in advance of the referendum. The question of potential future extradition issues for Scotland would be affected by Scottish independence, so cannot be answered now because it would depend on multiple negotiations that could only take place if people in Scotland vote to leave the UK in September’s referendum.

Financial Services: Zimbabwe

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to co-operating with the United States Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission, as part of their investigation of the funding of President Mugabe in 2009 by Och-Ziff, BlackRock, GLC Partners and Credit Suisse, in order to establish whether any United Kingdom funding was involved.

Lord Deighton: UK regulators and law enforcement agencies cooperate closely with international partners, including those in the United States. Requests for assistance for investigations in the US and elsewhere are made to the UK Central Authority. Her Majesty’s Government does not confirm or deny the existence of such requests and we are unable to comment on any ongoing investigations.

Food Supply Networks Review

Lord Rooker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many meetings have been held by Ministers with representatives of the food industry to discuss the subject matter of the Elliott Review into the Integrity and assurance of the food supply networks since the final draft was received by departments in June; and who was present at such meetings.

Lord De Mauley: There have been no Ministerial meetings with representatives of the food industry called specifically to discuss the review into the Integrity and Assurance of Food Supply Networks since June 2014. However the action being taken by industry following the horsemeat fraud incident and the Elliott Review interim report will have been discussed in the regular meetings Ministers have held with the food industry during this time.
	Professor Elliott submitted his final report to Government in July, and this was published on 4 September.

Food Supply Networks Review

Lord Rooker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the cost to date of the Elliott Review into the Integrity and assurance of the food supply networks; and when the final report will be published.

Lord De Mauley: Professor Chris Elliott’s Independent Review into the Integrity and Assurance of Food Supply Networks was published on 4 September.
	The Review to date has cost £194,000 in payments to Queens University Belfast for Professor Elliott’s time, his Subject Matter Experts, venue hire and associated costs of carrying out the Review.
	A number of staff in Defra and on loan from the Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency provided secretariat to support the Review. These staff were already part of departments’ existing administration budgets and the associated cost of these positions whilst working on the Review was £288,000, although some staff were also providing support to other areas of work.

Gambling

Lord Mancroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which provisions of the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014 enable the sharing of information received by the Gambling Commission with overseas regulators, where such information is not required for an overseas criminal investigation or overseas criminal proceedings.

Lord Newby: The Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014 does not affect existing position in respect of the Gambling Commission’s ability to share information with overseas regulators.

Gambling

Lord Mancroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what type of information the Gambling Commission intends to share with overseas regulators.

Lord Newby: The type of information that the Gambling Commission may share with overseas regulators in the course of carrying out its licensing and regulatory functions will depend on the circumstances. Of course, all information is shared subject to generally applicable legal requirements such as those arising under data protection law.

Gambling: Internet

Lord Mancroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether companies providing sound effects, graphics and language translation services for use in the creation of gambling products require a licence.

Lord Newby: The Gambling Commission’s advice note “What is gambling software?” explains that, “Where the third party is only providing part of a game, such as artwork, under the control and design specifications of Company Y, then this indicates Company Y is in control and is the entity to hold a gambling software licence whereas the third party does not” (para 4.13). This equally applies to those that provide other aspects of the overall game for example sound effects and language translation services.

Gambling: Internet

Lord Mancroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why intellectual property relating to gambling software, often owned by separate companies which in turn license that software, rather than by the direct software developers or gambling operators, remains a determinant of a gambling licence requirement.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government why, in the light of the Gambling Commission’s guidance, a software developer owning intellectual property in gambling software requires a licence if it amends the software, whereas a gambling operator owning the intellectual property in gambling software which sub-contracts the amendment of that software to another company does not.

Lord Newby: Intellectual property relating to gambling software is only one of the factors that is relevant to understanding where control of the product sits. There are also other factors that are relevant when considering who needs a gambling software licence for example who is responsible for the design and functionality of the software and what the contract says in terms of responsibilities and liabilities. One relevant activity caught by Section 41 of the Gambling Act 2005 is adaptation, and so the person who actually undertakes that adaptation will need to be licensed.

Gambling: Licensing

Lord Mancroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the Gambling Commission’s guidance on licensing; and in particular whether they consider that it is clear in respect of who will need a licence and which activities will need to be licensed.

Lord Newby: The Gambling Commission is the expert body on gambling licensing and it is for the Commission to determine the best way to achieve the desired policy outcomes and what advice and guidance it is appropriate to offer the regulated industry.

Glen Parva Young Offender Institution

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what changes have been made at Glen Parva Young Offenders Institution since the report by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons published on 6 August, which concluded that “Glen Parva was not safe.”
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government , in the light of the report by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons published on 6 August on Glen Parva Young Offenders Institution, whether they have introduced measures to reduce the use of force, including full control and restraint.

Lord Faulks: As with all establishment inspection reports by HMIP, NOMS will produce an action plan responding to all the recommendations made in the report within six months of the date of publication.
	HMYOI Glen Parva has already introduced an improvement plan to address the concerns raised. Safety is the Governor’s top priority and the YOI is
	now providing a safe and decent regime for all offenders. An external safer custody audit in June 2014 found that progress had been made since the inspection.

Hilda Murrell

Lord Rooker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, following the Written Answer by Lord Taylor of Holbeach on 4 August (HL938), they will give the titles and dates of the five files relating to Hilda Murrell which will be referred to the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Council.

Lord Newby: Further to the previous answer, the five additional files relating to Hilda Murrell which will be referred to the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Council, are as follows:
	Death of Miss Murrell - 1985Death of Miss Murrell - 1985-1994Death of Miss Murrell - 1985Death of Miss Murrell - 1985-1986Murrell Hilda - Murder Enquiry (F4 papers) - 1984-1985.

Hindley Young Offender Institution

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken in response to the report published on 15 August by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons on the lower site at Hindley Young Offenders Institution, and the report’s conclusion that the Institution “struggled to keep the vulnerable boys it held safe”.

Lord Faulks: As with all establishment inspection reports by HMIP, NOMS will produce an action plan responding to all the recommendations made in the report within six months of the date of publication.
	NOMS considers safety a top priority in all of its prisons. The prison will continue to build on its violence reduction strategy and safeguarding policy within the next 12 months to keep those in its care safe. HMYOI Hindley has also recently adopted Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) a new accredited restraint system developed specifically for use with young people (under 18). This provides staff with behaviour management techniques to recognise young people’s behaviour and uses approaches that minimise the need to resort to the use of force.

Hindley Young Offender Institution

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , in the light of the report published on 15 August by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons on the lower site at Hindley Young Offenders Institution, which found that half the boys held on the lower site were sharing cells
	designed for one and that many of the cells were dirty and lacked basic amenities, what plans they have to refurbish those cells.

Lord Faulks: NOMS is committed to ensuring that prison cells remain in a decent and habitable condition. Every prison cell, including at HMYOI Hindley, is subject to daily and weekly checks for damage. There are currently no plans to refurbish every cell at HMYOI Hindley. However, a number of cells will be upgraded to include new robust furniture, and new windows on a priority basis. A scheduled programme of wing and cell painting is also in place at the establishment, and work is ongoing to improve the toilet screens in a number of cells.

House of Lords: Computer Software

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask the Chairman of Committees how many Members of the House of Lords have been unable to access features such as their emails and calendars since the switch to Office 365.

Lord Sewel: Between 14th July and 31st August, PICT logged cases from 237 Members which directly related to issues resulting from the migration of their mailboxes to Microsoft Office 365. The cases covered a wide variety of issues including reconfiguration of desktops, laptops and mobile devices; we do not know the number of Members who were unable to access their email or calendar.
	PICT apologises for the problems that the implementation of Office 365 caused for some Members of the House of Lords.

Human Trafficking

The Lord Bishop of Derby: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many child victims of human trafficking were interviewed in 2013 by competent authority staff, as opposed to specialist interviewers.

Lord Bates: “There were 450 potential victims of trafficking who were minors at the time of exploitation referred into the National Referral Mechanism in 2013. These referrals were considered by UK Visas and Immigration and the UK Human Trafficking Centre.
	The UK Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC) do not conduct interviews with potential victims of trafficking. Interviews may take place with other agencies, for example the Police or Social Services, however UKHTC does not keep a record of who conducts the interviews, or when the interviews take place.
	UK Visas and Immigration do conduct interviews where appropriate. Information on the training received by the staff involved in interviewing is
	not collated centrally and establishing this would incur disproportionate cost. However, all UKVI staff undertaking interviews with children must have undertaken specialist training. In addition, staff may also have received Competent Authority training which includes a two day specialist training course. All reasonable grounds and conclusive ground decisions are taken by trained Competent Authority staff.”

Immigrants: Detainees

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many children of illegal immigrants have been detained in the United Kingdom in each year since 2010.

Lord Bates: The Home Office publishes periodic data on the numbers of children entering detention under Immigration Act Powers since 2010. This information is located on the GOV.UK website, accessible via the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/children-entering-detention-under-immigration-act-powers
	The Home Office does not routinely record the immigration status of the parents of those children entering detention under Immigration Act Powers. Whilst this information is held on Home Office systems, extracting the information would require an individual inspection of records, which it is considered would incur a disproportionate cost.

Immigration Controls: Bahrain

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have given any instructions to immigration officials on giving greater scrutiny or priority to Bahraini nationals in carrying out entry clearance, border control and removals functions under paragraph 17(4)(a) of Schedule 3 to the Equality Act 2010.

Lord Newby: Immigration officials are authorised to give greater scrutiny or priority to specific nationalities when carrying out entry clearance, border control and removals functions on the basis of a risk assessment which indicates that those nationalities constitute a greater risk to immigration control. For national security reasons, the nationalities concerned are not disclosed.

Isabella Acevedo

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) immigration officers, and (2) police officers, effected the detention of Isabella Acevedo at Haringey Town Hall on 18 July; and what guidance exists as to the circumstances in which immigration officers may effect detentions and the number of officers to be deployed.

Lord Bates: A team of seven immigration officers and one police officer were deployed on this operation. Decisions on the size of an Immigration Enforcement arrest team are made on a risk assessment and intelligence basis. On this occasion, consideration was given to the potential number of guests and indications that there were several subjects of interest who were believed to be unlawfully present.
	In total there were two people arrested at the premises, one female and one male.

Islam

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they apply in selecting members of the Muslim community to consult; and whether the Home Office has employed or consulted advisers who believe in the creation of an Islamic state in the United Kingdom by non-violent means.

Lord Bates: As stated in the Prevent Strategy, and reinforced in the report of the Prime Minister’s Extremism Task Force in December 2013, the Government will not engage with people, from any background, who engage in vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. By contrast, the Government does set great value to the wide range of people from many different British Muslim groups and mosques with whom we do work. Last year, for example, Prevent local coordinators in our 30 Prevent priority areas worked with over 250 mosques, 50 faith groups and 70 community groups as part of their work to help people recognise and challenge extremist propaganda and support those who may be vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism.

Israel

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Israel about the case of Ms Khalidah Jarrar, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council; and what assessment they have made of the reasons why Israel seeks to expel her from Ramallah and exile her to Jericho.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Officials in our Embassy in Tel Aviv routinely raise the rights of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails with the Israeli government. We have not raised this particular case, but understand that Khalidah Jarrar has been moved to Jericho under orders from an Israeli military court for security reasons.

Israel

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of Palestinian Legislative Council members now imprisoned or detained in Israel; and whether they are making representations about the arrests of Mr Bassem al Za’areer from near Hebron on 22 August and of Mr Hisham Muhammad Abu Zgheib, Secretary-General of Fatah in Tulkarem refugee camp, on 27 August.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The Government understands that there are 36 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council being detained by the Israeli authorities. While we have not raised the specific cases of Mr al Za'areer and Mr Abu Zghieb with the Israeli authorities, officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv last raised the issue of Palestinian prisoners with the Israeli authorities on 7 September.

Max Clifford

Lord Trefgarne: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why Max Clifford was handcuffed to a prison officer when he attended his brother’s funeral; and whether he remained so restrained throughout the service.

Lord Faulks: NOMS does not comment publicly on matters concerning a named individual’s imprisonment.

Merlin Helicopters

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government , further to the Written Answer by Lord Astor of Hever on 6 November 2013 (HL2992–5), on what day 846 Naval Air Squadron will stand up the first Royal Navy Merlin Mk3 helicopter squadron; and by what date they expect the transition of the Merlin Mk3 airframe to the Commando Helicopter Force to be complete.

Lord Astor of Hever: 846 Naval Air Squadron will stand up as the first Royal Navy Merlin Mk3 helicopter squadron on 30 September 2014. The transition of the Merlin Mk3 and Mk3a aircraft to the Commando Helicopter Force will be complete in 2016.

Merlin Helicopters

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Astor of Hever on 6 November 2013 (HL 2992–5), whether programme funding has been agreed for ship-optimisation of the Merlin Mk3 helicopter.

Lord Astor of Hever: The Merlin Life Sustainment Programme was approved and contracted in December 2013 with funding to update 25 Merlin MK3/3a helicopters with new avionic systems to overcome obsolescence issues as well as ship optimisation enhancements including the addition of a folding main rotor head and folding tail. The upgrade project will enable embarked operations from Royal Navy ships.

Merlin Helicopters

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Astor of Hever on 25 October 2013 (HL2640), whether Nimrod MRA4 ASW technology has now been incorporated into the Merlin Mk2.

Lord Astor of Hever: The Anti Submarine Warfare capability developed on Nimrod MR2 for the Nimrod MRA4, has been approved and funded and is in the process of being integrated onto the Merlin Mk2 aircraft. The capability is expected to be in service in 2016.

Military Aircraft

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what differences are required in generic skills in (1) surveillance, (2) anti-submarine warfare, and (3) anti-surface warfare, in respect of aircrew of (a) Merlin Mk2 helicopters, and (b) maritime patrol aircraft.

Lord Astor of Hever: There are no differences in the generic surveillance skills required for surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, and anti-surface warfare, in respect of aircrew of Merlin Mk2 helicopters, and maritime patrol aircraft.

Navy

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Astor of Hever on 25 October 2013 (HL2640), what programme of work the Royal Navy is undertaking to establish the best way to replace the maritime capability that was to be provided by the Nimrod MRA4; and whether that programme has included work at the maritime warfare training schools at HMS Collingwood.

Lord Astor of Hever: Staff from Navy Command, including from the Maritime Warfare Centre at HMS Collingwood, and Air Command are actively involved in studies on future wide area maritime surveillance, which are being led by the Joint Forces
	Command. In particular, the Royal Navy is providing submarine, aviation, information superiority and warfare experts to inform the Air Information Superiority Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) Optimisation Study (AIOS) and related work. The AIOS is considering a number of options for wide area surveillance, including the use of manned and unmanned aircraft and the use of space-based assets, primarily with a view to informing the forthcoming Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Navy: Military Aircraft

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Royal Navy pilots are flying (1) F35 aircraft with the US military, (2) F18 aircraft with the US military, (3) Typhoon aircraft, (4) Hawk aircraft, or (5) any other type of fast jet with another nation’s military.

Lord Astor of Hever: The information requested regarding the number of Royal Navy pilots flying the specific aircraft is as follows:
	
		
			 F35 aircraft with the United States (US) military <5 
			 F18 aircraft with the US military 12 
			 Typhoon aircraft <5 
			 Hawk aircraft 12 
			 Other types of fast jet with another nation's military <10 
		
	
	Note: Figures have been rounded where appropriate in accordance with Departmental conventions.

Nimrod Aircraft

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any Royal Air Force Nimrod aircrews have been funded since the cancellation of the Nimrod MRA4 programme in 2010; and if so, how many, and why.

Lord Astor of Hever: No Nimrod aircrews have been funded since financial year 2010-11.

Offences against Children

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the report by Professor Jay, Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham (1997 – 2013), they will ask Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to investigate police forces which have large Pakistani communities to establish whether any reports of child rape were systematically ignored or covered up.

Lord Bates: The failings in Rotherham exposed by this inquiry are appalling and the Coalition Government is absolutely clear that the lessons of past failure must be learned.
	Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) has a key role to ensure that identified weaknesses are addressed, and has several relevant inspection programmes underway. As part of their 2014/15 business plan, the Home Secretary commissioned HMIC to inspect forces to honour based violence and, in particular, how well forces establish and maintain relations with minority communities in a multi-cultural society, identify and assist vulnerable people and victims, and encourage increased reporting of crimes.
	This work is scheduled to report in early 2015. Concurrently, HMIC are carrying out an audit of the quality of crime recording in every police force, which includes an examination of when forces are incorrectly 'no-criming' serious offences such as rape and sexual assault. HMIC's full report and conclusions will be published in October. Furthermore, HMIC intends to use its forthcoming all-force PEEL inspection programme to monitor how effective forces are at protecting those at greatest risk of harm, including children. HMIC are currently consulting on the methodology for this programme. There is no question of other sensitivities preventing steps from being taken to ensure both the proper protection of children and the prosecution of those responsible for the sexual abuse of children.

Palestinians

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the condition of the civilian population of Gaza in relation to hunger, shelter, clean water, sewage disposal, access to medicines and supply of electricity following Israeli military action in Gaza in recent months; and whether they will publish their assessment.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: We are gravely concerned by the humanitarian situation in Gaza where the damage sustained in the recent conflict has been unprecedented. More than 100,000 people have been left homeless, the UN estimates that only 10% of the population receives clean water daily, and many people face power cuts of up to 20 hours a day. DFID works closely with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA), which manages the process of collecting, analysing and publishing information about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The latest situation reports are published here: http://www.ochaopt.org/. DFID will continue to work with partners on the ground to monitor the situation and adapt our response accordingly.

Palestinians

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the level of humanitarian aid to Gaza from United Kingdom public funds has changed in the current financial year; and, if so, by how much.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: As part of our existing programme in support of Palestinian development, annual DFID funding to Gaza amounts to approximately £30 million year. In addition to this UK has been one of the biggest donors to the Gaza crisis, providing over £17 million in emergency assistance. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and keep our funding under review.

Parliamentary Information and Communications Technology Service

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: to ask the Chairman of Committees what is the mean and maximum time delay for PICT to answer telephone helpline calls from Members of the House of Lords.

Lord Sewel: The mean and maximum time for PICT to answer telephone calls to extension 2001 (the PICT Service Desk) is set out by month in the table below. These figures represent all calls to the Service Desk. Unfortunately, it is not possible to produce figures for specific customer groups.
	
		
			 Month Mean wait (minutes: seconds) Maximum time delay (minutes: seconds) 
			 January 2014 01:52 24:14 
			 February 2014 01:27 21:37 
			 March 2014 01:42 17:45 
			 April 2014 01:23 20:22 
			 May 2014 01:56 19:26 
			 June 2014 02:41 35:00 
			 July 2014 03:29 29:41 
			 August 2014 02:55 27:26 
		
	
	PICT aims to answer 80% of calls in 20 seconds or less and 90% of calls in 60 seconds or less.

Pitcairn Islands

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage immigration to Pitcairn; what are the targets for immigration to Pitcairn; and what they consider to be the obstacles to such immigration.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Her Majesty's Government (HMG) fully supports the economic development of the Pitcairn Islands. The Government of Pitcairn has recently worked up a new Strategic Development Plan and immigration policy, which HMG is currently considering. In 2013, the Government of Pitcairn and HMG commissioned two independent expert reports into attitudes to resettlement amongst the Pitcairn diaspora community, and on the broader economic potential of the islands. Both reports recognised
	that there are substantial obstacles to immigration to Pitcairn, including its relative isolation, the limited economic opportunities and the legacy of child safety issues. We will continue to work in partnership with the Government of Pitcairn to support the community in Pitcairn as we consider longer-term options for the island.

Pitcairn Islands

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the future population of Pitcairn will be large enough to maintain a sustainable community on the island.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: In 2013, the Government of Pitcairn and Her Majesty's Government commissioned two independent pieces of analysis – into the appetite amongst the Pitcairn diaspora for return to the island, and on the broader economic potential of the island. Both reports recognised that unless the population of the island increases, it will be a challenge to maintain the longer-term viability of the community.

Police and Crime Commissioners

Lord Hoyle: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidelines, if any, are given to police and crime commissioners upon taking up office.

Lord Bates: Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are subject to statutory duties and are required to sign a Declaration of Acceptance of Office upon taking office. The respective Offices of the PCC, in conjunction with the Association of PCCs, coordinate individual inductions for newly elected PCCs. The Home Office does not issue guidelines to PCCs upon them taking office.

Police and Crime Commissioners

Lord Hoyle: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the total cost of police and crime commissioners, including salaries and expenses, for each year since they were established.

Lord Bates: The Home Office does not collect data on salaries and expenses claimed by Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs). However we have been clear that all Police and Crime Commissioners must be as transparent as possible.
	Under paragraph 1(c) and (d) respectively of Schedule one of the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Specified Information) Order 2011, PCCs are obliged to publish “the salary of each relevant office holder” and “the allowance paid to each relevant office holder in respect of expenses incurred by the office holder in the exercise of the body’s functions”.
	Article 1(2) of the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Specified Information) Order 2011 defines “relevant office holder” as, where the elected local policing body
	is a police and crime commissioner, the commissioner and deputy police and crime commissioner appointed by the commissioner.

Ragwort Control Act 2003

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are any control orders made under the Ragwort Control Act 2003 currently in force; and whether there are any plans to make any such control orders.

Lord De Mauley: The Ragwort Control Act 2003 makes no provision for control orders. The purpose of the Act is to provide for a code of practice to give guidance on how to prevent the spread of ragwort to be prepared. This resulted in the Code of Practice on How to Prevent the Spread of Ragwort which was published in 2004.
	Natural England, the delegated authority for investigating complaints about injurious weeds, can issue enforcement notices under the Weeds Act 1959 where ragwort poses a high risk to grazing livestock or agricultural land.
	The number of enforcement notices served under the Weeds Act 1959 in 2013, 2012 and 2011 is as follows:
	
		
			 Year Enforcement notices served 
			 2011 42 
			 2012 36 
			 2013 37 
		
	
	Enforcement is a last resort and where possible we encourage communications between landowners and complainants to try and resolve the issue. In the vast majority of cases this approach is successful.

Religious Freedom

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that a willingness to uphold, and to give due priority to, Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is one of the criteria for the selection of the next United Nations Secretary-General.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: As the former Senior Minister of State Baroness Warsi said in the House on 22 July, Her Majesty’s Government does not put forward criteria for candidates. However, we would want to see a proven leader, fully committed to the values of the UN, with sufficient political authority and expertise to lead and manage such a large and complex organisation. The ultimate
	responsibility to uphold Article 18 lies with states, as it is states that have human rights obligations. However, as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is at the core of UN values we would expect any UN Secretary General to urge all states to uphold them.

Rivers: Somerset

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the progress of the work to dredge the Rivers Barrett and Tone in the Somerset Levels so far during 2014.

Lord De Mauley: The dredging is going well. The Environment Agency remains on target to complete the 8km dredge of the Rivers Parrett and Tone by 31 October 2014. As of 5 September, there is 3.2km of river left to dredge.

Roll-on Roll-off Ships: Safety

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the reasons for their proposal to remove the requirement for on-deck emergency equipment lockers on roll-on roll-off passenger ships, originally specified as a result of the inquiry into the Herald of Free Enterprise ferry disaster; and what is their assessment of the implications of that proposal for safety.

Baroness Kramer: These regulations, which only apply to UK roll-on roll-off passenger ships, were introduced following the HERALD OF FREE ENTERPRISE tragedy in 1987. The proposal to revoke these regulations, which are only applicable to UK ships, is based on a significantly higher level of safety on ships since the tragedy. This is due to the introduction of numerous internationally adopted safety standards such as the International Safety Management Code, SOLAS 90 – an international standard for passenger ship stability, the Stockholm agreement – an international agreement on stability requirements for Ro/Ro Passenger ships; and the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers. The safety equipment on board ships is more accessible under the current regime of international safety standards than previously under the regulations.
	The Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) consultation on this proposal closed on 10 August. A decision on whether the regulations will be revoked will be made in light of a detailed consideration of all comments received during the consultation, but the MCA considers the proposal to remove the UK statutory requirement would have no significant impact.
	UK ships would still carry equipment, similar to that found in the lockers, prescribed by the regulations in other parts of the ship. For example, equipment
	such as axes and glass breaking hammers are held in the ship’s firefighting lockers and first aid kits are part of the lifeboat inventory.
	The equipment in the lockers prescribed by the regulation are only intended for use when the ship is lying on her side in shallow water, almost exactly level, in calm seas. The equipment in the lockers is of no additional benefit in other types of emergency situation, bearing in mind that similar equipment is contained elsewhere on board, and is easily accessible.

Russia

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Russia about their returning to Estonia a border official recently detained by them.

Lord Newby: The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Aylesbury (Mr Lidington), met the Russian Ambassador to London on 11 September and expressed his strong concern about the illegal and unacceptable abduction of an Estonian official from Estonian territory by Russian Security Services on 5 September, and called for his immediate release.

Sexual Offences: Young People

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many girls under the age of 18 have been the victim of gang-related sexual violence since 2010, broken down by police force areas in England and Wales.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Home Office does not hold this information.
	There is currently little hard data on the number of women and girls involved in gang violence. However, we know that women and girls who come into contact with street gangs are at greater risk of violence, particularly sexual violence.
	The Government report on ‘Ending Gang and Youth Violence’ (November 2011) recognised the importance of tackling gang-related violence on girls, and refers to research by Race on the Agenda (2010:11) which exposed the significant harm that girls associated with gangs can experience. Further research has been undertaken by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner and Bedfordshire University. This was set out in their Interim Report (2012): “I thought I was the only one. The only one in the world” and the Final Report (2013): “If only someone had listened”.
	Steps taken to protect girls from becoming involved in gang-related crime are set out in the ‘Ending Gang and Youth Violence Report: One Year On’ (November 2012) and ‘Ending Gang and Youth Violence Annual Report 2013’ (December 2013) documents.
	This includes dedicated funding of £1.2m over three years (April 2012 to March 2015) to improve services for girls under 18 at risk, or victims of, sexual violence and exploitation by gangs.
	The reports are available on the GOV.UK website.

South Sudan

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of South Sudan to ensure that the Voluntary and Non-Governmental Humanitarian Organizations Bill, currently before the South Sudan Parliament, will enable citizens and civil society organisations to engage in humanitarian activity, enjoy freedom of association and engage in monitoring and accountability systems in accordance with democratic principles.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The British Embassy in Juba has, alongside national and international partners, actively lobbied the Government of South Sudan on the Voluntary and Non-Governmental Humanitarian Organizations Bill currently before the South Sudan parliament. The United Kingdom wants to see proportionate and well-designed legislation that provides a clear legal framework within which citizens and civil society organisations can engage in humanitarian activity, enjoy freedom of association and engage in monitoring and accountability systems in accordance with democratic principles. We continue to make clear to the government where the draft legislation might better achieve these aims.

South Sudan

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the peace and reconciliation initiatives launched by the Vice President of South Sudan, James Wani Igga, and of how those initiatives relate to the National Reconciliation Committee for Healing, Peace and Reconciliation, led by Archbishop Daniel Deng.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The National Platform for Peace and Reconciliation, launched on 5 April 2014 by Vice President Igga, includes the Committee for National Healing, Peace and Reconciliation led by Archbishop Daniel Deng.
	The Government is clear that there needs to be a genuine process of reconciliation in South Sudan to help address the impact of the conflict. Lynne Featherstone, Parliamentary- Under Secretary of State for the Department for International Development made this point to the Government of South Sudan during her recent visit in September.

Sudan

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether anyone associated with the Liberation and Justice Movement of Sudan has been barred from entering the United Kingdom; and, if so, who and why.

Lord Bates: The Home Office does not routinely comment on individual cases. This is because the Home Office has obligations in law to protect this information. The Liberation and Justice Movement of Sudan has not been proscribed by the UK. Individuals associated with the Liberation and Justice Movement would not necessarily be denied entry based solely on their association with it.

Sudan

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Sudan regarding (1) female genital mutilation not being a criminal offence in Sudan, and (2) UNICEF’s 2013 estimate, included in their report Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change, that 88 per cent of Sudanese women have undergone female genital mutilation.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: We regularly raise Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) with the Government of Sudan. We worked hard through the Government’s National Council for Child Welfare (NCCW) to ensure that Sudan was represented at the Girl Summit which took place in London in July, and which had a particular focus on FGM and child and early forced marriage (CEFM). We welcome the Government’s subsequent signature of the Girl Summit Charter, which includes a public commitment to ending FGM. We are now in discussion with the NCCW about an event to mark that signature, which would be attended by the Ministry of Social Welfare. On 22 October the Government will host a regional meeting on ending FGM, in which it will showcase its own achievements in changing attitudes.
	Advocacy on the need for legislation on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) forms part of a programme supported by DFID and run by UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). More broadly, the programme aims to end FGM by making it socially unacceptable, and supports the country-wide Saleema campaign which is led by the Government of Sudan.
	DFID is also providing funding to UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), which will include data on the percentage of women who have undergone FGM, and will report by the end of 2014. The findings of that survey will inform our discussions with the Government of Sudan and our future programming.

Sudan

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Sudan concerning the proportion of births there attended by skilled health personnel; and what discussions they have had regarding Sudan’s maternal mortality ratio.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: While we do not have specific health programmes in Sudan, we are greatly concerned at the levels of maternal mortality in Sudan, and regularly discuss these issues with the
	Government in the context of wider discussions about the delivery of basic services and poverty reduction. DFID is providing funding to UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), which will include data on the proportion of skilled health personnel who attend births, and on maternal mortality. The findings of that survey, which will report by the end of 2014, will inform our discussions with the Government of Sudan.

Sudan

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Sudan regarding (1) Sudanese laws which allow girls to be married from 10 years old, and (2) the proportion of women in that country aged 20–24 who were married by the time they reached 18.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Sudan about raising the legal age of marriage in that country from 10 to 18 in order to comply with international standards of child rights.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: There is a discrepancy between the Sudanese Child Act of 2010, under which anyone under the age of 18 is considered to be a child, and religious law, under which anyone under the age of 11 is considered to be a child. Along with the Sudanese National Council for Child Welfare (NCCW), we have lobbied the Government to ensure compliance with the Child Act and the removal of any discrepancies which lead to under-age children being married.
	Broader work on child rights forms part of a programme supported by DFID, and run by UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which focuses on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). This programme has included a workshop on reaching a national position on the legal age of marriage. DFID is also providing funding to UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), which will include data on the percentage of women who were married by the time they reached 18. The findings of that survey, which will report by the end of 2014, will inform our discussions with the Government of Sudan.
	DFID worked closely with the NCCW to ensure that the Government was represented at the Girl Summit which took place in London in July, and which had a particular focus on FGM and Child and Forced Marriage (CEFM). We welcome the Government of Sudan’s subsequent signature of the Girl Summit Charter, which includes a public commitment to ending CEFM. We are actively following up with the Government of Sudan to ensure that they maintain momentum on these issues.

Syria

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they and their allies are taking to prevent the Syrian town of Mhardeh from falling to attacks by Islamist militants.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We are extremely concerned about the activities of Islamist extremists in Syria and the threat they pose to Christian communities in Mhardeh and elsewhere. Our response is to support the moderate opposition who are fighting both extremism and Assad’s tyranny. We are acting in close coordination with our international allies. We are also pushing for an inclusive political process which is the only long term way to protect Syria’s minority communities.

Terrorism

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the assessment in David Anderson QC’s annual report that the definition of terrorism is currently too broad.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Government welcomes Mr. David Anderson QC’s fourth annual report on the operation of the Terrorism Acts in 2013, which was laid in Parliament on Tuesday 22nd.
	We will consider his recommendations in detail and respond in due course.

Terrorism

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their definition of a terrorist.
	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their definition of a terrorist group.

Lord Bates: The UK definition of terrorism is set out in section one of the Terrorism Act 2000.
	Any decision by the Secretary of State to proscribe an organisation under Section three of the Terrorism Act 2000 must be based on a belief that it is concerned in terrorism as defined in the Act, and it must be proportionate. Such decisions are subject to approval by Parliament.

Twitter

Baroness Deech: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to ensure the cooperation of the authorities in California with United Kingdom law enforcement agencies in securing information from Twitter in respect of alleged online offences.

Lord Bates: HM Government works closely, and has regular discussions, with the US Government to help ensure that UK law enforcement agencies are able to secure the information they need in respect of alleged online offences.

Zimbabwe

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to presenting a case to the International Criminal Court to bring charges against President Mugabe for genocide and crimes against humanity.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Zimbabwe is not a party to the Rome Statute so the International Criminal Court (ICC) has no jurisdiction over events which have taken place in that country.
	For the ICC's Prosecutor to be able to initiate an investigation in these circumstances either the Government of Zimbabwe would have to voluntarily accept the ICC’s jurisdiction, or a referral from the UN Security Council would be required.
	Under the Rome Statute the Security Council can only refer a situation to the ICC; it cannot refer the case of any specific individual.

Climate Change

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty’s Government have much they have spent on travel and accommodation in respect of Members of the House of Lords attending meetings on global climate change during the current financial year.

Baroness Verma: The Government has contributed £1,800 for travel and accommodation for Members of the House of Lords to attend meetings overseas specifically on climate change in the current financial year.

Hindley Young Offender Institution

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the report published on 15 August by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons on the lower site at Hindley Young Offenders Institution, which found that “boys sometimes had less than 15 minutes a day to exercise in the open air”, whether they have any plans to reconsider national policies on how long boys spend out of their cells.

Lord Faulks: Improving outcomes in under-18 Young Offenders Institutions (YOIs) is one of the key objectives of our plans to Transform Youth Custody. A new operating specification has been developed for under-18 YOIs. This requires that every young person has access to a minimum of ten hours out of their rooms which
	includes a minimum of one hour in the open air each day. Our plans are to implement this revised regime across all under-18 YOIs during 2015.
	We believe we need to do more than improve the existing estate which is why the Government intends to open a pathfinder Secure College, a new form of secure establishment which will put education at the heart of youth custody, in the East Midlands in 2017.

Ministers: Conduct

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Northover on 18 August (HL 1666), which section of the Ministerial Code deals with the expression of personal views which are not government policy whilst answering questions at the Despatch Box.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Ministerial Code sets out the duties and responsibilities of Ministers. It is of course not unprecedented for Ministers to express personal views at the Despatch Box.

Orders and Regulations

Lord Goodlad: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many statutory instruments from the Department for Communities and Local Government have been laid this calendar year; of those, what percentage corrected errors in a previous instrument (including drafts of affirmative instruments that had to be superseded by correcting drafts); and what steps that Department is taking to reduce the need for correcting instruments.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: A table has been placed in the Library of the House, it includes changes made to secondary legislation issued under the previous Administration.
	From time to time, we make amendments in response to scrutiny by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments. We also undertake routine review of previous instruments to see if the drafting needs to be improved to ensure that the policy is properly delivered or minor errors corrected. Wherever possible, revisions are included with other substantive provision to minimise the number of statutory instruments made.
	We take our responsibility to ensure the quality of all legislation emanating from the Department seriously and endeavour to keep to a minimum the need for correcting instruments. We have a system in place for appropriate 2nd and 3rd lawyer checks by senior lawyers; we provide regular legal awareness training and guidance for policy officials in making statutory instruments and actively engage with interested persons or groups, where possible, to test the quality of the draft legislation. We regularly review these processes to ensure that they continue to be effective and appropriate.
	In addition, both the Treasury Solicitor and First Parliamentary Counsel are strongly committed to improving the quality of statutory instrument drafting across the Government Legal Service. In the coming months, the Treasury Solicitor’s Department (which provides legal services to my Department) will be looking at ideas for better training, a more consistent approach to supervision, checking, planning and timetabling of statutory instruments, better sharing of good practice, and the possibility of a specialist statutory instrument drafting “hub”, with experienced senior leadership.

Palestinians

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the official National Health Service medical team promised by the Prime Minister has yet reached Gaza; whether volunteer British doctors have been refused access to Gaza via Israel; and, if so, what action they are taking on the doctors’ behalf.

Baroness Northover: A team of medical staff from the UK visited Gaza and East Jerusalem in August to assess the need for specialist medical support. A team was given access to Gaza via Israel to access medical facilities in both locations to assess capacity and recommend future UK assistance.

Ranby Prison

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to address the findings of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons’ report of an unannounced inspection of HMP Ranby, published on 24 July, in respect of the condition of the play area for the
	children of those visiting prisoners, plans to develop services, the lack of a family support worker and the lack of a parenting course.

Lord Faulks: Funding has now been secured to replace and renew current toys and equipment and the list of appropriate items is being finalised. A local initiative has recently been set up whereby staff donate good quality toys and books, resulting in a significant improvement to toys and books available. Storybook dads is being delivered and extended to a larger percentage of the population. Surestart has been approached with a view to offering support during visits. A Parenting Course is being developed with a view to it being delivered by a voluntary sector organisation. Further opportunities are also being explored with voluntary sector organisations who can assist in developing the family and children pathway.

Welfare Assistance Schemes

Lord Bassam of Brighton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of those who have received local welfare assistance, by region, (1) were registered disabled, (2) have learning difficulties, (3) suffer mental health issues, (4) are escaping domestic violence, and (5) are families with dependents.

Lord Freud: Local authorities are not required to provide DWP with details of who has received Local Welfare Assistance. Consequently, we do not have information about the volumes of people of certain types receiving support.